In a little more than one hour, the first matchup of the season between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets will kick off in East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium. By NFL rule, both teams have announced those men who will not partake in the contest.
Via New England’s official Twitter account, the following Patriots will be out today:
CB Justin Coleman
RB D.J. Foster
DT Woodrow Hamilton
CB Cyrus Jones
TE Matt Lengel the Former Bengal
WR Matthew Slater
OT LaAdrian Waddle
Special teams captain Matthew Slater has already been the declared out on Friday, while Jones has joined him as an inactive yesterday. Slater’s absence on the kicking units, on which he serves as a gunner, will be missed and put more pressure on Brandon King. Jones, on the other hand, will likely be replaced by a mix of Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman in the return game. He has seen only limited snaps on defense this season.
The Patriots have made both Cyrus Jones and Justin Coleman inactive, which leaves Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, Eric Rowe, and Jonathan Jones as the only cornerbacks on the active roster. Jones is out with an illness, but deactivating Coleman is a curious decision since the Jets rely heavily on their wide receivers in the passing game and don’t utilize their tight ends.
Hamilton is inactive, which verifies that DT Alan Branch is available to play, which is a big boost for the defense. ED Jabaal Sheard is also active.
On offense, QB Tom Brady, TE Rob Gronkowski, TE Martellus Bennett, WR Chris Hogan, and WR Julian Edelman are all active and ready to play.
The Jets have made the following players inactive:
QB Christian Hackenberg
OC Nick Mangold
CB Nick Marshall
WR Charone Peake
OT Brandon Shell
WR Devin Smith
CB Marcus Williams
Mangold has been a cornerstone for the Jets for the past decade.