The Patriots are shaking off a dormant weekend following their 27-20 win over the Jets on Thursday night, and preparing for the Bengals in Week 12 on Sunday in Cincinnati. New England is 9-2 and atop the AFC East, in a tie with the Broncos for first place in the conference. But there has been business to attend to, even as the team has had a few days off.
Injuries, as happens for all 32 teams as the season progresses, have forced the Patriots to juggle the roster. The big one is interior defensive lineman Milton Williams, the big score the team had in free agency last offseason, who hit the injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. Williams will be out until Week 16 against the Jets, at least.
But the Patriots also lost recently signed veteran linebacker Darius Harris to the practice squad IR, and he, too, will miss four games (at least) with a knee injury. To start the week, the team found ways to replace those players.
Patriots Add Tight End, Linebacker
The Patriots announced on Monday that they were making some moves. They’ve already elevated Bradyn Swinson from the practice squad as Williams’ immediate replacement. But they’ve changed the back end of the roster, too.
Per the Patriots’ announcement: “The New England Patriots announced that they have signed rookie TE C.J. Dippre to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and released S John Saunders Jr. from the 53-man roster. In addition, the Patriots signed LB Otis Reese to the practice squad and placed LB Darius Harris on the practice squad injured reserve list.”
Third Tight End Finally Joins Mix
Dippre spent his last two collegiate seasons at Alabama, and will be the third tight end on the roster for now. The team has gone with two tight ends–Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper–for most of the season, but Hooper is dealing with a concussion and missed the Jets win.
Reese, meanwhile, played with the Titans for two seasons, appearing in 20 games during that span. He signed with Tennessee while Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was still coaching there, and had been with the Bills‘ practice squad until last month.
Replacing Milton Williams Is Patriots Focus
Vrabel was asked on Monday about the importance of Williams to the Patriots’ defensive resurgence this year, and it was obvious from the get-go that it was not a topic he wanted to delve into too deeply. He’s trying to keep his eyes on how the team moves forward without him.
“That’s really where our focus is, it’s not so much as a reflection as it is just focusing on how do we get the guys ready to perform and continue to improve,” Vrabel said.
“I think the thing we’re trying to get everybody to understand is how much this is a progress league, and to be able to improve as the season goes on. And so, we’ll have to do that without Milt, who’s one of our contributors and is a big part of what we’ve done. But we’ll have to do it without him here for a few weeks.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Patriots Announce Roster Additions After Week 12 Injuries appeared first on Heavy Sports.