While Sunday night was an outstanding evening for the Patriots and the franchise, as quarterback Drake Maye announced himself on the national scene by leading a 23-20 win over the undefeated Buffalo Bills–the favorites in the AFC–it was also a heartbreaking game for running back Antonio Gibson.
During the game, it was obvious that Gibson had suffered a serious knee injury when he attempted to stop and cut, but landed awkwardly with his right foot. He was helped off the field in Buffalo, tears streaming down his face as he walked. Gibson has been a useful back in the running game, with 25 carries and 106 yards, and outstanding as a kick returner–his kick-return touchdown against Miami in Week 2 was a key to sparking that win.
On Monday afternoon, to no one’s surprise, reports emerged that Gibson had torn his ACL, an injury that will put him out for the remainder of this season and possibly the beginning of next season.
Patriots’ Rhamondre Stevenson Had a Message
After the Buffalo win, video of Gibson cropped up, showing him standing by the locker room door of the Patriots at Highmark Stadium, greeting each player as they came in off the field. Gibson, a six-year veteran, has only been in one playoff game in his career, as a rookie in 2020 with Washington.
New England would have given him a chance to experience that again, until the injury.
Fellow running back Rhamondre Stevenson, after the game, had a message for Gibson.
“Sad situation for my guy AG, we are super close in that running-back room, so to see him go down, me and (TreVeyon Henderson) were on the sideline and we were like, âLetâs just do it for AG,â” Stevenson said.
“No more mistakes and just have a clean game from here on out. I think we did that for him. Prayers up for him.”
Running Back Depth Now in Question
Both Henderson and Stevenson will be in focus now that Gibson is out. Stevenson has been the starter and while he has had some great moments, the fact is, the Patriots are just 27th in rushing yards at 476 this season, and Stevenson has three fumbles here in five games. He led the NFL in fumbles among non-quarterbacks last year, with seven.
Henderson, meanwhile, has not been the game-breaking playmaker he was hyped up to be in training camp and the preseason–at least not yet. He’s tallied 121 yards on 32 carries, with 15 catches for 90 yards out of the backfield.
It’s unclear still how the Patriots will replace Gibson. They have Terrell Jennings on the practice squad and as of now, he would be the next guy up. They could also pluck former Patriots running back JaMycal Hasty from the Dolphins‘ practice squad.
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