The New England Patriots practiced with all but one member of the active roster on Thursday.
Safety and special-teamer Nate Ebner remained missing as preparations continued for Sunday’s meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles. An additional four Patriots, including edge-rusher John Simon, would be listed as limited participants on the week’s second injury report.
Here’s an updated prognosis for the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field.
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
- Patriots: S Nate Ebner (ankle/back)
- Eagles: RB Darren Sproles (quadricep), WR Alshon Jeffery (ankle), LB Nigel Bradham (ankle)
Ebner has missed New England’s last two practices due to ankle and back injuries. He’d missed two games earlier this season with a groin injury, yet has seen 150 snaps in the kicking game.
And for Philadelphia, Thursday also marked the second missed session for Jeffery. The wideout suffered an ankle injury in Week 9 against the Chicago Bears, and was recently described by Eagles head coach Doug Pederson as “kind of day-to-day right now.” Jeffery has caught 34 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns thus far into 2019. Again accompanying him as a non-participant was Bradham, who has been inactive for three consecutive Eagles games with an ankle injury of his own. Sproles also did not practice on Thursday. Philadelphia’s longtime all-purpose back has a quad injury.
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
- Patriots: TE Matt LaCosse (knee), DT Danny Shelton (ankle), DE John Simon (elbow), S Patrick Chung (heel/chest)
- Eagles: RB Jordan Howard (shoulder), OT Jason Peters (knee)
Chung returned on Wednesday after sitting out New England’s previous pair of practices, while Shelton appeared on the injury report for the first time this campaign. Both remained limited during Thursday’s workload. As did LaCosse, who suffered a reported MCL sprain in mid-October versus the New York Giants. But Simon is a new addition to the Patriots’ report. Standing with three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble this season, the veteran bookend is dealing with an elbow issue.
On the Eagles’ side of the limited, Howard and Peters stayed in that capacity on Thursday. Peters, now 188 starts into his NFL tenure, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery during what’s been a three-game absence from the Philadelphia offensive line.