In not even 90 minutes, the New England Patriots will play their ninth game of the season. Despite coming off a bye week, though, New England will not be at full strength when facing the Denver Broncos on the road tonight. But while the team misses some big names, others are back or healthy despite injury concerns.
With that in mind, let's take a look at today's Patriots inactives:
DT Malcom Brown
OT Marcus Cannon
OT Cole Croston
RB Mike Gillislee
WR Chris Hogan
DE Cassius Marsh
CB Eric Rowe
Malcom Brown, Marcus Cannon and Chris Hogan were already ruled out by the team on Friday. In their place, New England is expected to turn to increased snaps for Alan Branch, Lawrence Guy and Adam Butler at defensive tackle, while moving LaAdrian Waddle into Cannon's spot as the starter at right offensive tackle - where he will be asked to slow down star edge rusher Von Miller.
The rest of the inactives are no real surprise – with one big exception: Mike Gillislee, the Patriots leading rusher this season. While the offseason acquisition has lost playing time to Dion Lewis, he still is the only bigger back on the roster and thus believed to have a role. Against Denver's talented front seven, however, it seems the team opts to go with more versatility than power.
Of course, with the names above not suiting up some big players are making their return: Tight end Martellus Bennett, freshly claimed off waivers after getting released by Green Bay earlier this week, will kick off his second Patriots stint. Meanwhile, starting outside cornerback Stephon Gilmore is back after missing the last three games due to a concussion.
The Denver Broncos' inactives, for comparison look as follows:
QB Paxton Lynch
RB De'Angelo Henderson
DB Lorenzo Doss
LB Joseph Jones
LB DeMarcus Walker
OL Donald Stephenson
WR Jordan Taylor