Patriots slot CB Jonathan Wilhite has been placed on the IR, ending his season. Wilhite has had an up and down career with the Patriots, performing well as a nickelback and struggling when asked to cover #2 receivers. This season, with the emergence of Devin McCourty and Kyle Arrington, Wilhite was able to slide down the depth chart and play to his strength as a slot corner. Unfortunately, 4 weeks ago Wilhite suffered a hip/hamstring injury which has kept him off the field. During the first 2 weeks on his injury, the Patriots used safety Pat Chung as the slot corner to no success and, for arguably the first time in Wilhite's career, fans were wishing he was on the field. However, the past two weeks, cornerback Darius Butler has emerged as a solid contributor in the slot and has lessened the need for a Wilhite return.
Last week, the Patriots added CB Chevis Jackson, who is primarily a nickel corner, just like Wilhite. However, the loss of ILB Brandon Spikes to a suspension allowed Jackson to join the roster without doing any further roster moves. This past Sunday, the Patriots started to see some damage on their defensive line as Myron Pryor and Mike Wright stayed out with injuries, and Gerard Warren and Ron Brace suffered injuries during the game. As a result, the Patriots signed DL Louis Leonard to the roster. Unfortunately, this meant that a roster move had to take place in order to fit Leonard on the squad, so the Patriots had to put Wilhite on the IR.
Best of luck to Wilhite and we all hope he has a speedy recovery!
The new Patriots CB depth chart:
RCB: Devin McCourty
LCB: Kyle Arrington
NCB: Darius Butler
CB4: Chevis Jackson