Patriots-Giants: 9 players not dressing for the game

The New England Patriots aren’t expecting their starters to play in the final preseason game against the New York Giants. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Dont’a Hightower, and all of the other stars should remain on the sideline- but at least they’ll be wearing their uniform.

There are just nine players not suited up and they are important to highlight.

WR Julian Edelman and EDGE Derek Rivers: Both dealing with ACL injuries and will be placed on the injured reserve during roster cuts.

S Nate Ebner: Ebner’s injury contributed to the team acquiring Marquis Flowers from the Bengals. Hopefully it’s minor. It’s good to note that ST Matthew Slater is suited up for the game.

EDGEs Harvey Langi, Keionta Davis, Deatrich Wise, and Shea McClellin: Langi has been dealing with an undisclosed injury. Davis is likely going to receive a redshirt season as he recovers from a back injury; he hasn’t played all preseason. Wise is recovering from a head injury and McClellin is a question mark. Add in Rivers’ injury and we’ll be seeing a lot of Geneo Grissom, Michael Bart, and Nick Usher on the edge.

OT Tony Garcia and OL Andrew Jelks: Garcia is another injured reserve candidate, which bodes well for the roster security of LaAdrian Waddle and Conor McDermott. Nate Solder is dressing, too. Jelks has been limited all preseason.

All other Patriots can technically play, but it would be a surprise. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told 98.5 The Sports Hub that he’s interested to see the bottom 15 players on the roster for an additional week and this could be a good time for those players to make cases for the practice squad.