Limping to the line
Patriots have 16 players on injury report for season finale
Call them the walking wounded.
The Patriots have dragged themselves to the finish line of a brutal season and listed 16 players as questionable on their final injury report Friday. Worse than that, two of those players didn’t practice all week and could still be forced into action Sunday against the Jets.
Linebackers Terez Hall (ankle) and Anfernee Jennings (shoulder) have missed every practice since exiting last Monday’s loss to Buffalo with injuries and are now among those questionable for the season finale. Hall are Jennings are former reserves who were elevated into starting roles late in the year out of necessity. On Friday, coach Bill Belichick praised Hall for working his way up from the practice squad to serve as an injury replacement for starter Ja’Whaun Bentley multiple times this season.
“It’s a good story about a player who’s put in day after day after day, after two years of hard consistent work, and it’s paid off all the way through,” Belichick said. “He’s gotten better on a consistent basis and got an opportunity to play and go in and show that he was ready to take advantage of that opportunity. It’s a great lesson for all of us, and I’m happy for Terez that he was able to get the opportunity and have a chance to show how much he has worked.”
Bentley is also questionable for Sunday. The Pats’ only healthy linebacker is sixth-round rookie Cassh Maluia, who’s currently on the practice squad. Maluia is likely to be elevated to the active roster on Saturday as a game-day promotion.
In the secondary, safety Devin McCourty is questionable after being limited in two straight practices since he sat out Wednesday’s walkthrough. McCourty left Monday’s loss with a new shoulder injury.
Belichick: Edelman’s future TBD
As expected, Julian Edelman will remain on injured reserve and sit out the Pats’ season finale. The 34-yearold wideout made a brief attempt to return to the active roster two weeks ago, when he was designated to return and began practicing. But Edelman has now missed six straight practices and will end the year missing 10 straight games.
While Edelman is under contract through 2021, Belichick declined to say whether he’ll fit into the team’s plans next season.
“Yeah, I think it’s way too early to start talking about next year,” Belichick said.
Belichick added Edelman he did not suffer a setback in his recovery from October knee surgery and stayed around the team over the second half of the season.
“He was around regularly,” Belichick said. “But, he did a good job of using his experience to help other guys in areas that he was familiar with and could give them benefit from his experience and some guidance.”
Pats sign DB Virgin
The Patriots signed freeagent cornerback Dee Virgin to their active roster Friday.
Virgin, 27, has spent most of this season with the Lions and the Rams. He started on Detroit’s practice squad, was elevated to the 53-man roster for two games and made one tackle on special teams. Virgin was eventually released on Dec. 17, then signed to the Rams’ practice squad for a week and cut on Tuesday.
The 5-foot-9, 195 defensive back entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama. He signed with Houston in 2017 and lasted a little more than a year before getting cut at the end of the Texans’ 2018 training camp. Between Houston and his ensuing stay in Detroit, Virgin has appeared in 21 regular-season games and made 12 special teams tackles.