The Patriots have announced their inactives for their week five match-up against the New York Jets:
Ryan Mallett, QB
Sebastian Vollmer, OT
Mike Wright, DE
Danny Woodhead, RB
Josh Barrett, S
Jerod Mayo, ILB
Julian Edelman, WR
My thoughts:
- Danny Woodhead (ankle) and Jerod Mayo (knee) are both inactive, as expected.
- Defensive lineman Mike Wright returned to practice in a limited role this week after having missed the last three weeks with a concussion injury and was determined to not be ready to play today. Hopefully the Patriots will have him back soon.
- The Patriots will receive a boost on the defensive line with Albert Haynesworth being active, despite having been questionable and missing the past two weeks with a back injury.
- Also returning on the defensive side of the ball for the Patriots are cornerbacks Leigh Bodden and Ras-I Dowling. The Patriots haven't had their top three options at cornerback healthy since week one, so this certainly represents a boost for the team's defensive backfield.
- With Josh Barrett out at safety, expect Sergio Brown to see the majority of the team's snaps opposite Patrick Chung at safety. Ross Ventrone and James Ihedigbo could also see extended playing time.
- On offense, the Patriots will see a huge boost with the return of Aaron Hernandez. We already talked about how crucial Hernandez is to the versatility of the Patriots offense, so I won't go into much more detail. We don't know how big of a role Hernandez will play today, but the more snaps he plays the better.
- With Julian Edelman out at receiver, perhaps Taylor Price could see his first snaps on offense / as a returner.