The (7-2) New England Patriots are far from the healthiest team in the league, but they’re in arguably better shape than their week 10 opponent. The (4-4) Tennessee Titans are dealing with some pretty serious injuries of their own.
The Patriots removed WR Josh Gordon (hamstring), OT Marcus Cannon (concussion) and LB Nicholas Grigsby (illness) from the injury report. That’s fantastic for the team.
Here’s the first injury report of the week.
Did Not Participate
Patriots: OL Trent Brown (illness)
Titans: LB Daren Bates (illness), OT Jack Conklin (concussion), S Dane Cruikshank (knee), WR Taywan Taylor (foot)
Brown’s sick, but that shouldn’t prevent him from playing on Sunday. He’s just trying to stay away from his teammates so no one else catches the bug that’s been going around.
As for the Titans, Bates is their star special teams player, ranking first on the team in special teams snaps. Cruikshank is also a special teamer, ranking fourth on the team in snaps.
Conklin is Titans franchise right tackle and he’s a complete stud. He left Monday Night Football will a concussion, which makes it very unlikely that he’ll be cleared ahead of Sunday’s game.
Taylor is the Titans’ WR3 with 214 receiving yards this year and it is unclear if he’ll be available on Sunday.
Limited Participation
Patriots: LS Joe Cardona (shoulder), WR Julian Edelman (ankle), TE Rob Gronkowski (ankle/bank), LB Dont’a Hightower (knee), TE Jacob Hollister (hamstring), OG Shaq Mason (calf), RB Sony Michel (knee), WR Cordarrelle Patterson (neck), DE John Simon (shoulder)
Titans: LB Derrick Morgan (shoulder), WR Tajae Sharpe (ankle)
The limited Patriots were all limited last week and I would expect that the team will keep them all limited through the bye week so they can get as healthy as possible. Gronkowski, Hollister, Mason, and Michel should be considered more “gametime decisions”, with Michel expected to play and Gronokwski considered “week-to-week”.
The Titans expect Sharpe to play. Sharpe is the Titans’ WR2 and his role would increase if Taylor is unavailable to play. Morgan hasn’t played since week 6 and just returned to practice on Saturday. It’s questionable if he’ll play.
Full Participation
Titans: LB Will Compton (hamstring)
Compton is a reserve linebacker that has a bigger role on special teams.