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In not even 90 minutes, the New England Patriots will play their 14th game of this year’s regular season, trying to improve to 7-7: Bill Belichick’s club will square off against a Miami Dolphins team that is heading into the contest with an 8-5 record. Before getting ahead of ourselves, however, let’s take a look at the players on both sides who have been declared inactive and will therefore not participate in today’s contest:
Patriots inactives
QB Brian Hoyer
RB Damien Harris
WR Donte Moncrief
TE Jordan Thomas
DB Joejuan Williams
The Patriots entered the weekend with 14 listed as questionable but no players initially ruled out. That number jumped to two when running back Damien Harris (ankle) and wide receiver/kickoff returner Donte Moncrief (thigh) did not make the trip to Miami. Now, three other players joined them on the inactives list — with all of them healthy scratches.
Seeing Brian Hoyer and Jordan Thomas deactivated is no surprise given their respective positions at the bottom of the depth chart. Former second-round draft selection Joejuan Williams, meanwhile, can be considered a minor surprise. However, three factors worked against him this week: his limited playing time on defense, the emergency of rookie Myles Bryant, and the fact that Miami’s top tight end, Mike Gesicki, will be out.
This also means that the rest of New England’s questionables list will be available: running backs James White (foot) and J.J. Taylor (quadricep), wide receiver Matthew Slater (knee), offensive linemen Jermaine Eluemunor (ankle), Justin Herron (ankle) and Shaq Mason (calf), defensive tackles Lawrence Guy (shoulder), Adam Butler (shoulder) and Byron Cowart (back), cornerbacks J.C. Jackson (knee) and Jonathan Jones (neck), and kicker Nick Folk (back).
Dolphins inactives
FB Chandler Cox
G Ereck Flowers
TE Mike Gesicki
WR Jakeem Grant
WR DeVante Parker
DE Jason Strowbridge
While they were listed as questionable heading into the weekend, Miami’s top three pass catchers — DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki and Jakeem Grant — have all been declared inactive for today’s game. This is obviously good news for a Patriots team that is going up against a rookie quarterback who will have to adapt to a new supporting cast.