Patriots wide receivers Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dorsett expected to play against the Texans today

When the New England Patriots took on the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, they had to do so with a wide receiver group missing two of its top three options: Mohamed Sanu was absent after he had hurt his ankle the previous week against the Philadelphia Eagles, while Phillip Dorsett had to be deactivated due to concussion he sustained during New England’s Week 11 win over the Eagles. In their place, rookies N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers were given considerable snaps.

Sanu and Dorsett also were limited in practice this week, and subsequently listed among 17 questionable Patriots on Friday’s injury report. However, it appears as if they will return to the field against the Houston Texans later today: the two veterans made the trip to Texas, and according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport are expected to be active for today’s primetime contest — a considerable boost to an offense that has been wildly inconsistent over the last few weeks.

If they are indeed able to play, Sanu and Dorsett would be expected to take on the second and third receiver roles alongside Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman again. In turn, Harry and Meyers would likely be relegated to rotational roles again — something that could be beneficial to their impact considering that they would only be used in pre-determined situations fitting their skill-sets snd confidence within the offense, and probably go primarily against Houston’s depth cornerbacks.

The list of inactive players — three of the seven are already known in cornerback Jason McCourty, defensive tackle Byron Cowart and tight end Ryan Izzo — will be announced 90 minutes before kickoff tonight.