New England Patriots
“We probably won’t see him today, but maybe this week.”
The New England Patriots came up short against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.
But for the first time in weeks, the Patriots seem to have avoided any major injuries amid a turbulent start to a new season.
Speaking to reporters at Gillette Stadium on Monday, coach Mike Vrabel said reinforcements might be on the way for his roster, with guard Greg Van Roten and safety Dell Pettus potentially set to return from injured reserve and practice later this week.
“We probably won’t see him today, but maybe this week,” Vrabel said when asked about Van Roten. “We’ll see where that goes. Those guys, I think him and Dell are eligible, potentially, to try to get back out there and see where that goes.
“But we’ll have to make a decision with Marcus Bryant, so we’ll probably give us through today here. See where guys progress and go from there.”
The return of Van Roten and Bryant — who was designated to return from injured reserve last week — would be a welcome sight for a New England O-line that played without two starters in Chicago.
Starting left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker was placed on injured reserve last week with a hamstring injury, while veteran Ben Brown — who replaced starting right guard Mike Onwenu (broken ankle) — also missed the game against the Bears with a knee injury he suffered against the Jets in Week 6.
Vera-Tucker’s injury is a brutal setback for the Patriots and the player, as he lands on IR for the fourth time in his six-year NFL career.
The former first-round pick previously played in 43 of 85 possible regular-season games with the Jets (2021-25) and missed all of last year with a tricep injury.
However, Vrabel stressed that he doesn’t think Vera-Tucker will miss the rest of this year.
“I don’t think it’s for the season, but I couldn’t tell you what short-term is determined by, however many weeks he has to be out,” Vrabel said. “It wasn’t going to be this week, so we figured it was going to be at least four games, so that’s why we made the decision that we made.”
The optics didn’t look good after Brown’s knee buckled against the Jets, but the veteran offensive lineman seems to have avoided major injury — with Vrabel noting that Brown “might be out there” at practice this week.
As Van Roten and Brown near a return and Vera-Tucker remains on the mend, New England could again turn to backup guards Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor at interior left guard for Sunday’s road game against Miami.
“Matt’s done a nice job. Matt’s come in, he’s protected well,” Vrabel said of Pryor. “I think that he’s still getting comfortable, but he’s big in there. He’s tough to get around. He’s got heavy hands, and he gives us a chance most of the time.
“I really like his attitude, the way that he’s come in and just tried to learn everything pretty quickly. We’re talking about guys that have been here from April on, and he’s been here for three weeks and tried to be ready to go.”
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
