Patriots Injury Situation To Force Uncomfortable Decision
The New England Patriots received some positive injury updates this week, but they haven’t all been positive.
Jared Wilson (ankle), Khyris Tonga (chest) and Brenden Schooler (ankle) were full participants on Wednesday, putting them all in position to return to the lineup after missing the club’s Week 13 victory over the New York Giants.
Terrell Jennings, who was knocked out of that game with a concussion, missed the first two practices of the week and is expected to be sidelined for Sunday’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills.
Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, as a result, are the club’s only remaining options.
D’Ernest Johnson has already been elevated to the from the practice squad on three separate occasions — making him ineligible to play unless he is promoted to the active roster. Craig Reynolds, who recently joined the organization, was placed on practice squad injured reserve on Wednesday. Jashaun Corbin, who returned from practice squad injured reserve in the same transaction, has played a grand total of 15 snaps in the NFL.
New England just doesn’t have any other options…
Stevenson and Henderson have occupied 92.52% of total snaps at the position in 2025, which includes a three-game absence from the former that caused some serious shuffling at the position involving the likes of Jennings, Johnson and Antonio Gibson.
The Patriots are clearly confident leaning on that duo, but they can’t enter the biggest game of their season with just two running backs on the active roster. Johnson and Corbin are the only options to join them, with the former being the better candidate.
It’ll be an uncomfortable decision, though, as that would require replacing someone on the active roster and making them available to other teams…
New England could have gotten ahead of these issues with a move at the trade deadline, but some argued anyone they brought aboard via trade would carry similar value as a signing off the street. We’ll have to see if that rings true.