The Patriots’ lack of depth on the interior of the offensive line led the team to sign veteran Greg Van Roten late in training camp. Just three games into the season, though, Van Roten is heading to injured reserve.
The team placed Van Roten on IR on Tuesday, after he was hurt during Sunday’s loss in Jacksonville.
Van Roten had been pressed into action after starting right guard Mike Onwenu broke his ankle in Week 2. The 36-year-old Van Roten came to the Patriots with 11 years of NFL experience, having made 105 starts and 144 appearances from 2012-25 with the Packers, Panthers, Jets, Bills, Raiders and Giants.
Now, the Patriots’ interior depth returns to dire status.
The top backup remaining is Ben Brown, whom the Patriots interestingly didn’t use in place of Van Roten on Sunday. Head coach Mike Vrabel said that Brown, who was injured in the preseason but is now healthy, was in place as the backup center and left guard.
Instead of Brown, the Patriots used Walter Rouse, The 25-year-old Rouse struggled mightily, earning a 38.3 (out of 100) pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.
With Brown being the only backup on the active roster with experience at center, the Patriots likely didn’t want to risk Brown being injured at guard and starting center Jared Wilson suffering a subsequent injury, thus leaving the team without a center.
Now, though, there likely will not be any choice other than starting Brown at right guard for the foreseeable future.
The 28-year-old Brown joined the Patriots in 2024, starting 10 games, before appearing in all 17 games (with four starts) last season. This year, he’s been on the field for just 12 offensive snaps.
Rouse has never started a game in his three-year career, playing just 88 offensive snaps last year for Minnesota.
The Patriots do have two offensive linemen — Xavier Newman-Johnson and Jake Kubas — on their practice squad, but Kubas hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2024 and Newman-Johnson hasn’t played regularly since 2023.
Unlike last season, when so much went right for the Patriots, they’ve suffered injuries in some spots where they really can’t afford to lose anybody, due to a notable lack of depth. This year, it’s happened at safety (Dell Pettus is on IR, Craig Woodson missed Week 3), tight end (Eli Raridon missed Week 3 with a thigh injury), EDGE (Dre’Mont Jones missed Week 3, Harold Landry remains on PUP), and guard (Andrew Rupcich suffered a season-ending injury in the summer, before Onwenu’s and now Van Roten’s injuries).
While Drake Maye’s struggles early in the year have been well-documented, the team has also struggled to consistently run the ball. That’s despite the addition of Alijah Vera-Tucker at left guard and the improved play of Will Campbell at left tackle. Veteran right tackle Morgan Moses struggled in Jacksonville in Week 3, and now the team will be down to its third string right guard to start on Sunday in Buffalo.
A year after just about everything went right for the Patriots, a whole lot is going wrong in 2026. And the injuries on the offensive line are near the top of that list.
