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Patriots Injury Buzzkill Sunday

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After two off days, the Patriots had media access on Sunday morning and the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride broke a trio of bad injury news updates concerning Shaq Mason, Dion Lewis and Sebastian Vollmer.

These are the first significant injury blows of the 2016 season with potential long-term ramifications.

Let’s break them each down one by one.


This is the biggest one. There hadn’t been any whispers that Vollmer was dealing with something this significant. Most of us thought he was just being managed while recovering from another offseason of surgery. But alas, it now looks like Marcus Cannon will be the starting right tackle for the Patriots this season. While this might send shivers down many Patriots’ fans spines, Cannon has actually had a good training camp and was a standout against the Bears on Thursday night.

I know this will do little to calm the nerves of so many when Cannon has become the current poster child for last year’s AFC Championship loss to the Broncos. But Dante Scarnecchia always had a soft spot for Cannon, and at least early in camp, it appears he’s responding the return of his old OL coach.

Vollmer is entering the final year of his deal and it’s hard to see him coming back now. I really wanted the Patriots to draft a tackle early in this year’s draft to groom as Vollmer’s replacement but they avoided the position almost entirely. Now Cannon, LaAdrian Waddle and Cameron Fleming all need to step up.


Mason came off PUP was running with the top unit for most of the last two weeks at right guard. All signs were pointing toward him being the favorite to win the job. Belichick has been effusive in his praise of Mason’s athleticism despite his lack of height.

Now Josh Kline is likely the top option at right guard, though Jonathan Cooper, who’s been out since the first week of camp with a foot injury, could push Kline if he can ever get healthy. Cooper was running with the 1s most of the offseason at right guard. The Pats also have Tre Jackson who is still on the PUP list. I thought he’d stay there for the start of the season but the Pats might need him sooner than later if Mason and Cooper are going to be out for a while.


Finally, the news of Lewis needing another surgery might be the most depressing of all. There was a ton of debate in recent days if Lewis should stay on the PUP list but now it appears the decision has been made for the Patriots. Of course you just want Lewis to be healthy for the stretch run, but for a player who kicked around from team to team before landing with the Patriots last season, mostly due to injuries, this isn’t a great sign.

Lewis looked like the second coming of Barry Sanders early last season, coming out of nowhere and shocking everyone. But the question remains if he can reproduce that kind of performance. We’re going to have to wait a bit longer to find out.

Again, I thought running back would be a primary target in the draft but the Pats didn’t take one. Now they’ll have to figure things out with the same Blount/White tandem with perhaps a sprinkling of Tyler Gaffney and Brandon Bolden. It’s not a very diverse group and the running back personnel will likely be a major tell for what kind of play is coming — Blount = Power Run, White = Screen/Pass.

Gaffney has shown some flashes and has picked up some hard yardage, a good sign. But we saw the same sort of thing out of Jonas Gray last summer they Pats cut him without thinking twice. So I don’t know what we have with Gaffney. I’d love to think he’s going to get a chance, but I think there’s just as good a chance that the Pats make a move and add another running back. It’s now or never for Donald Brown who was the only external free agent running back signed.

The Patriots have had seemingly miraculous injury luck so far this summer. Julian Edelman, Rob Ninkovich and Malcolm Mitchell have all avoided season-ending injuries after appearing to sustain serious injuries. But that luck changed Sunday.

They can overcome the loss of Mason for any length of time, Kline is a vet and solid but unspectacular. There’s other depth to push Kline as well.

The depth at the tackle and running back was one of my biggest offseason concerns and priorities, yet the Patriots ignored both spots for the most part. Cannon, Fleming and Waddle are all capable veterans, and Cannon did just fine when he replaced Vollmer in 2013 (as many forget). But Cannon was also a prime target for dissatisfied fans last season and the thought of him being the starter surely has plenty in a panic.

Waddle was a promising starter at right tackle for the Lions early in his career before injuries derailed him. He’s been primarily the backup left tackle sp far in camp, but look for him to get a look at right tackle now that they’re depth is going to be tested.

But it’s also important to remember that there’s no more designation to return from IR. One guy per year can simply return from IR. So Vollmer going on IR isn’t the death sentence it used to be. The Pats can’t count on him, but it doesn’t necessarily mean Vollmer is absolutely gone for the season.

Hopefully Lewis will be back for the playoff push. If he’s not, the Patriots have to worry about becoming a one dimensional passing team like they were last season. An injury to Blount or White would be a critical blow.

However, if Lewis comes back at the form he was in early last season it will be an incredible boost at the most important time of year.

None of these injuries could matter for the playoff run, that’s the optimistic outlook, but they’re all setbacks in one way or another.

No season is without injury adversity. The Patriots just got their first taste of it.

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