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New England Patriots

New England Patriots

Patriots add starting cornerback to Thursday injury report

Author Alex Barth
Sep 10, 2023; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones (31) prepares for a game against the Philadelphia Eagles during the warm-up period at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots’ injury report is building as they prepare to host the Miami Dolphins Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. After listed seven player on their initial injury report of the week on Wednesday, the Patriots added another starter to Thursday’s report in cornerback Jonathan Jones (ankle).

Jones, who was limited, didn’t appear to suffer any apparent injury in the Patriots’ season-opening loss on Sunday. Still, his situation is a key one to monitor given his success in the past covering star Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

READ MORE:

—Patriots Week 2 Mailbag
— The Patriots have a new practice squad quarterback
— Ranking the top 23 games of Tom Brady’s career

Adding Jones was the only change the Patriots made to their injury report on Thursday. Offensive linemen Trent Brown (concussion) and Sidy Sow (concussion) were both out for the second day in a row. Generally, players who miss practice both Wednesday and Thursday don’t end up playing in that week’s game.

Fellow offensive linemen David Andrews (hamstring), Mike Onwenu (ankle), and Cole Strange (knee) were all limited for the second day in a row. Wide receivers DeVante Parker (knee) and Kayshon Boutte (hamstring) were limited as well.

Alex Barth on Twitter: "Jonathan Jones was added to today's injury report for the Patriots pic.twitter.com/hhSGUUzVap / Twitter"

Jonathan Jones was added to today's injury report for the Patriots pic.twitter.com/hhSGUUzVap

Miami made a couple of changes to its injury report on Thursday. Running back Raheem Mostert (knee) was upgraded from a non-participant on Wednesday to a full participant, and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (oblique) was upgraded from limited to full. Offensive tackle Terron Armstead (back/ankle/knee), tight end Julian Hill (ankle), and defensive back Elijah Campbell (knee) were all limited for Miami on Thursday.

Both teams will have a final injury report on Friday. That will include game statuses, with players officially being ruled out.

Read more…

Patriots Mailbag: Preparing to face a 'very, very explosive' Dolphins team

After last week’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the New England Patriots will try and avoid the dreaded 0-2 start this week when they host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football. Despite the progress the Patriots appeared to show last week, it’s dwarfed by the Dolphins’ massive offensive output.

In their 36-34 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Dolphins boasted 536 yards of total offense, including 466 from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. This was despite star wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both having a usage rate of under 70 percent for the game.

READ MORE:

—Week 1 Patriots Ups & Downs
— Mac Jones was ‘outrageously’ hard on himself after Sunday’s loss
— Ranking the top 23 games of Tom Brady’s career

The Dolphins offense is red hot coming into a matchup its fared well in in recent years. Tagovailoa is 4-0 in starts against the Patriots since being drafted in the first round by the Dolphins in 2020.

What can the Patriots do to slow this offense down? And what other questions surround the team heading into a crucial Week 2 matchup? Let’s get to your questions…

William Pinette on Twitter: "How would you go about limiting Waddle and Hill? Seems like if you take one guy away, the other one pops off. Similarly, what's your confidence level of the pats D holding the fins under the infamous 25 point line? Is this the game where we finally win a track meet? / Twitter"

How would you go about limiting Waddle and Hill? Seems like if you take one guy away, the other one pops off. Similarly, what's your confidence level of the pats D holding the fins under the infamous 25 point line? Is this the game where we finally win a track meet?

To the first part of this question – I’ll get into the coverage matchups I’m expecting in this game on Friday in my weekly ‘What To Watch For,’ but I’ll drop a bit of a spoiler here and say the Patriots should be relying on Jonathan Jones to have the same kind of success against Hill that he was had in the past.

As for that 25 point line, even with the Dolphins’ explosive offense, holding them below that isn’t an unrealistic expectation. Although Tagovailoa is 4-0 against the Patriots in his career, the Dolphins have reached scoring totals of 22, 17, 33, and 20 in those games. That 20 point performance came with both Hill and Waddle on the roster, and also included a defensive touchdown by Miami. So although the Patriots have struggled against the Dolphins in recent years, it’s been the offense holding the short end of the stick more often than the defense.

  • 🕸️Phil and his musings: 🕸️ 🏪 on Twitter: "What the heck happened with the Chargers D last week that's what I want to know. Hill and Waddle shouldn't be surprising anybody at this point. / Twitter"

    What the heck happened with the Chargers D last week that's what I want to know. Hill and Waddle shouldn't be surprising anybody at this point.

    Brandon Staley happened. Despite being a defensive coach, Staley’s Chargers have allowed 25.1 points per game since he took over in Los Angeles before the 2021 season. That ranks outside of the top 20 in the league. Despite their immense talent level, they’ve struggled to put it together on that side of the ball – which points to a schematic or philosophical issue.

  • Beantown Bastard on Twitter: "Do you think Gesicki can have a good game against his old team? I believe he will do well in the middle of the field and may get his first NE TD vs Miami. I think he brings the energy knowing he's playing against the Dolphins. / Twitter"

    Do you think Gesicki can have a good game against his old team? I believe he will do well in the middle of the field and may get his first NE TD vs Miami. I think he brings the energy knowing he's playing against the Dolphins.

    Throughout the week, Patriots players have talked about how Mike Gesicki’s familiarity with the Dolphins’ defense has been important. On top of that, this is a defense that struggled to cover tight ends a year ago. In 2022, tight ends against the Dolphins caught 98 passes (third-most allowed by a team in the NFL) for 954 yards (eighth-most) and 10 touchdowns (fourth most). Things did look a little better for the Dolphins defense in that regard to start 2022, with Chargers’ tight ends Gerald Everett and Donald Parham combined for five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown last week.

  • Most Hated on Twitter: "If DP plays how many snaps are we expecting? / Twitter"

    If DP plays how many snaps are we expecting?

    It’s tough to project DeVante Parker‘s usage without knowing his exact injury, but I will say this – the Patriots kept JuJu Smith-Schuster, arguably their biggest offseason acquisition, to a 53.8 percent usage rate in Week 1 amid reports he’s dealing with knee issues. Even though Parker is the team’s projected top ‘X’ wide receiver and just got a three-year contract extension, the Patriots still may not give him a full workload if they don’t feel he’s up to it.

  • Joseph carlson on Twitter: "How did the rookie lineman play last week? / Twitter"

    How did the rookie lineman play last week?

    For what the situation was, Atonio Mafi and Sidy Sow were…fine. There were no glaring mistakes over the course of 80 snaps. At the same time, they were hardly perfect. Mafi allowed seven pressures, and Sow allowed five over the course of 60 pass-blocking snaps (each). At certain points of the game, it looked like the Patriots were calling plays that didn’t require as much impact up the middle of the field, which would likely be to compensate for the rookies.

    The bigger issue though was in the run game. There was little push up the middle, and the Patriots ran for just 17 yards on 13 carries – or 1.3 yards per carry – between the tackles. That number needs to improve for the Patriots to opperate their offense to its fullest extent, and it should once Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu come back.

  • ashley1992 on Twitter: "Hi Alex, White looked great on Sunday. Do you think his snaps increase this week and if so, who's playing time decreases? / Twitter"

    Hi Alex, White looked great on Sunday. Do you think his snaps increase this week and if so, who's playing time decreases?

    Keion White was excellent on Sunday. He was a big part of the Patriots’ rush plan to knock Jalen Hurts off his spot without blowing contain, and did exactly that.

    It wasn’t surprising to see White play well – before the season I predicted his role will grow significantly as the season goes on. The thing is, White is positionally and formationally versatile. So his increase in snaps could be less of a one-for-one swap, and more him taking a few snaps from multiple players.

  • DPogue on Twitter: "What's happening with the O-Line this week? / Twitter"

    What's happening with the O-Line this week?

    Well, it’s not looking good based off of Wednesday’s injury report. Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu could still return, but it would be surprising to see Trent Brown or Sidy Sow just a week after suffering a concussion. So, assuming those two are out, here’s what the offensive line could look like…

    With Strange & Onwenu:

    LT: Calvin Anderson
    LG: Cole Strange
    C: David Andrews
    RG: Mike Onwenu
    RT: Vederian Lowe

    Without Strange & Onwenu:

    LT: Calvin Anderson
    LG: James Ferentz (practice squad elevation)
    C: David Andrews
    RG: Atonio Mafi
    RT: Vederian Lowe

    (If only one of Strange or Onwenu is out, Mafi likely takes the other guard spot with Ferentz still elevated as a backup.)

  • thanasis on Twitter: "What is your overall sentiment of the team and how similar was last week's game to the Ravens last year ? / Twitter"

    What is your overall sentiment of the team and how similar was last week's game to the Ravens last year ?

    This was the thesis behind my postgame column on Sunday – that game was whatever anybody wanted it to be. Want proof that the Patriots haven’t changed post-Patricia and are still good-but-not-good-enough? It was there. Want to point to the fact that it’s a new coaching staff and many of these mistakes – although they were ones the Patriots made for 17 weeks last season – can be corrected? There’s certainly evidence there as well.

    It basically all comes down to whether or not you believe the Patriots deserve the benefit of the doubt that they can overcome and correct early-season mistakes after struggling to do so in each of the last three seasons. In a bubble, it was an encouraging first week, even with the loss. And this is probably the best coaching staff the Patriots have had in the post-Brady era. But if the game just looked too familiar to get beyond the last few years, that’s understandable.

  • John Gabriel on Twitter: "Sunday was our first time seeing our offense in a real full game. Did you see any plays or formations where you think Tyquan can exceed at? I think that 3rd down where Mac had to thread the needle to KB if Tyquan is running the crosser from the left it can take that safety out! / Twitter"

    Sunday was our first time seeing our offense in a real full game. Did you see any plays or formations where you think Tyquan can exceed at? I think that 3rd down where Mac had to thread the needle to KB if Tyquan is running the crosser from the left it can take that safety out!

    Interesting question here John. I think the last point is the key here. A lot of what the Patriots did this past Sunday was stretching the field horizontally – a staple of Bill O’Brien’s offense. Thornton should help them stretch the field vertically, but he’ll need to prove he can get open deep and catch the ball for defenses to really stay honest with him on the field.

  • Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at [email protected].

Alex Barth is a digital content producer and on-air host for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Barth grew up in the Boston area and began covering both the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, and Boston Red Sox in 2017 before joining the Hub in 2020. He now covers all things Boston Sports for 985TheSportsHub.com as well as appearing on air. Alex writes about all New England sports, as well as college football. You can follow him across all social media platforms at @RealAlexBarth.

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