Well the news keeps getting better. The Patriots have announced that cornerback Ras-I Dowling will be placed on the IR due to a torn tendon in his leg. Ian Rapoport states that the torn tendon resulted in the pain in his hip that was listed on the injury report. Rapoport continues:
Dowling had been battling it all year, and the thought was, let it improve during the bye week. Yet it didn’t improve after the bye week. It was especially painful, even debilitating, after a day of practice, which is why he would practice, then need to sit for a few days.
Of course, this announcement comes at an awful time as the Patriots just released Leigh Bodden. As a result, the Patriots are extremely thin at cornerback. It also means that over the past two weeks, the Patriots have moved Dowling, Bodden, Josh Victorian, Malcolm Williams, Ross Ventrone, Sterling Moore, and Phillip Adams on and off of the roster. That's a list of seven defensive backs (and some have been moved multiple times). It seems as if the Patriots are just an unsure as Patriots fans with respect to where their secondary stands from a personnel point of view.
Hopefully everything irons out before the home stretch of the season.