New England Patriots edge defender Jabaal Sheard has missed last week’s joint practices with the Bears with an undisclosed injury, and he looks like he’ll miss this week, too. Boston Herald reporter Jeff Howe has found out the reason why.
“Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard has been dealing with a sprained MCL, according to a source,” Howe writes. “It's not viewed as an overly serious injury, so Sheard was given a recovery timetable of about 2-4 weeks. At worst, some MCL sprains heal in 4-6 weeks.”
Sheard reportedly injured his MCL in the preseason game against the Saints. He is the top edge defender on the roster and the Patriots are already without #2 Rob Ninkovich with torn triceps. The duo are likely to return to the field at roughly the same time.
Sophomore Trey Flowers and veteran free agent Chris Long will pick up the slack with the first team, while sophomore Geneo Grissom will likely be the third pass rusher off the bench- at least until Shea McClellin is fully healthy.
The Patriots battled MCL injuries last season, too. Running back LeGarrette Blount suffered a sprained MCL early August last preseason and played in a preseason game just two weeks later. Linebacker Dont’a Hightower sprained his MCL against the Broncos in the regular season and missed three of the final five games, and was limited in the two games he played.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see Sheard for the rest of the preseason as he prepares to take on the Cardinals in week 1 of the regular season.