The New England Patriots’ wide receiver position has suffered numerous hits this year — be it because of inconsistent performance (Josh Gordon), roster composition (Demaryius Thomas), off-field conduct (Antonio Brown), or simply injury. The latter group claimed rookie Gunner Olszewski earlier this week and also took a hold of other wideouts on the roster: Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett and N’Keal Harry have all missed some time due to injury.
Now, another receiver could become unavailable for the foreseeable future. According to NBC Boston’s Tom E. Curran, in-season trade addition Mohamed Sanu is feared to have suffered a high ankle sprain during last Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The injury reportedly “could keep him on the sidelines for a couple of weeks unless it has drastic improvement,” although it remains to be seen how quickly or slowly the 30-year-old returns to the field.
Nevertheless, this report in combination with Sanu’s absence during Wednesday’s practice paints a less-than-rosy picture and could leave the Patriots even thinner at wide receiver: Phillip Dorsett also did not participate during New England’s first practice of the week, even though there is some optimism that he might clear the concussion protocol soon and return to the field, while Julian Edelman was limited with a shoulder injury.
This leaves rookies N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers as the only two healthy players at the wide receiver position for now. While Meyers is more of a depth option at this point in time, Harry could see his workload increase in his second game since coming back from injured reserve: the first-round draft pick played most of his 32 offensive snaps in Philadelphia after Sanu and Dorsett were injured, and could play a pivotal role against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.