The New England Patriots played one of the sloppiest games of their season yesterday. Despite numerous self-influcted and avoidable mistakes, the team was still able to beat the Houston Texans 34-16 to advance to its sixth straight AFC Championship Game.
One of the positive aspects of yesterday’s game was the fact that New England left the game without any major injuries. Overall, there were two noteworthy medical issues: Tight end Martellus Bennett (knee) returned to the field after missing one play, while wide receiver Chris Hogan (thigh) had to leave the game in the third quarter.
However, despite not returning, Hogan seems to be fine, according to Doug Kyed:
Chris Hogan's walking without a limp in the locker room.
Hogan tells me "I'm good, man."
Before leaving the game, heading to the locker room and ultimately returning to the sidelines -- without returning to the game, though -- Hogan played a very good game. He caught four passes for 95 yards while also drawing a defensive pass interference penalty.
While we will not know the degree of the thigh injury, the early signs look good. With Danny Amendola having just returned from a four-game absence and Malcolm Mitchell sitting out yesterday’s game with a knee injury, this is certainly encouraging for the Patriots.