The New England Patriots offense will be shorthanded in the desert on Monday night.
Jakobi Meyers, easily New England’s most consistent wide receiver, has been ruled out due to a concussion. Meyers was hit in the head by Damar Hamlin in the fourth quarter of last Thursday’s loss to the Bills, missed practice all week, and still hasn’t cleared the protocol.
The Patriots will also be without Isaiah Wynn (foot) and Jalen Mills (groin) again.
Somewhat surprisingly, Damien Harris – who hasn’t practiced since injuring his thigh in Minnesota on Thanksgiving – hasn’t been ruled out. The running back is listed as doubtful instead.
Tackle depth could be a serious issue, as Trent Brown (illness) and Yodny Cajuste (calf/back) are both listed as questionable. With Wynn out, that means Conor McDermott, recently poached from the Jets practice squad, is the only healthy tackle. In a pinch Michael Onwenu could move outside, but last month Coach Bill Belichick made it clear that his preference is to keep him at guard.
“We didn’t really ever anticipate playing him at tackle and then we got into a bind, we put him out there and he played pretty good. I think he’s built to play guard,” Belichick said. “He’s comfortable playing guard. He has a really good skill set in there. That’s where we’d like to play him, for sure.”
• The NFL is taking some money from Mac Jones.
After being sacked by A.J. Epenesa in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to the Bills, the Patriots quarterback flipped the ball off the Bills defender in frustration. The league office determined the action was worthy of a $10,609 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, according to the NFL Network.
That’s quite a bit more than Bills safety Damar Hamlin was docked for concussing Jakobi Meyers. On the same series, Hamlin hit Meyers in the head on a pass attempt in the end zone and was ejected for the hit. More than a week later, Meyers is still in the concussion protocol, and has already been ruled out against Arizona.
Hamlin was fined $4,806 for unnecessary roughness, according to ESPN.
TITANS: The Tennessee Titans activated wide receiver Racey McMath and defensive back Josh Thompson off injured reserve for their game against Jacksonville, but put starting inside linebacker David Long Jr. on that list with an injured hamstring.
Long was sidelined by the injury last week. Tennessee has 15 players on injured reserve – starting inside linebacker Zach Cunningham went on the list Nov. 12 with an injured elbow.
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