An eye-opening addition to the New England Patriots injury report ahead of their Week 5 game against the Buffalo Bills sounds like it’s not a major issue.
The Patriots added defensive tackle Milton Williams to the injury report with a toe issue, but NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport added some context that should make New England feel a little better.
Does not sound like a significant injury for Milton Williams,” Rapoport said on X.
Milton Williams Added to Patriots Injury Report at Worst Time
That being said, Rapoport was quote-tweeting an update from MassLive’s Mark Daniels, who reported from Patriots practice that Williams wasn’t practicing on Oct. 2 after being limited the day before.
It’s unclear when Williams suffered the injury. Daniels wondered in his tweet if Williams suffered the injury in practice, speculation that’s fueled not just by the midweek addition out of nowhere but also by the fact that Williams spoke to reporters earlier in the week.
Not having Williams for the biggest game of the season thus far certainly wouldn’t be ideal. So far, he has more than lived up to his end of the massive four-year deal he signed in the offseason.
Williams, who entered the season with 11.5 sacks, already has two this season to go along with seven solo tackles, with five of those coming for a loss. On top of that, he has five quarterback hits and is largely outpacing just about all of his career highs from four seasons in Philadelphia.
Milton Williams has been awesome for the Patriots this season,” ESPN’s Field Yates said in a tweet. That would be a big blow if he’s unable to play Sunday night vs. the Bills.
How Williams Has Helped Patriots Defense
Despite some critical observations during training camp ahead of the season, Williams has looked like a pillar of Mike Vrabel’s defense. He has hit the ground running, erasing — at least for now — any sorts of concerns about his $104 million contract.
Williams, fresh off a Super Bowl ring with the Eagles, has been as good as advertised,” Pro Football Focus’ Bradley Locker wrote after two weeks. “The interior defender tallied four pressures on a 22.6% pass-rush win rate in Week 1 and followed it up with an even better outing in Week 2. In Miami, Williams collected five pressures, an 80.5 PFF pass-rushing grade and two sacks — including one of Tua Tagovailoa on fourth down with the game in the balance.”
It has more or less played out as the Patriots hoped on the interior of the defensive line. Williams has done his part, and so has Christian Barmore, who looks 100% after missing most of last season with blood clots.
“Christian Barmore’s rounding into form can only be looked upon as a major positive development for the Patriots‘ defense,” Michael DeVito wrote for MusketFire.com. “As head coach Mike Vrabel asserted, everything revolves around play of the big guys up front. On defense, that’s the defensive tackle and edge players.”
If that duo isn’t on the field together Sunday night in Buffalo, it will make pulling the upset far more difficult for New England against Josh Allen and the Bills.
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