Patriots vs. Bills inactives: DeVante Parker, Marcus Jones return for Week 18 showdown

In less than 90 minutes, the New England Patriots will kick off the final game of their 2022 regular season. It’s a big one, to say the least. If they pull off the upset over the Buffalo Bills on the road, they will qualify for the playoffs as the seventh seed in the AFC. If not, however, they will have to hope on Miami and Pittsburgh losing their respective games versus New York and Cleveland.

Unfortunately for New England, the team will not be at full strength. A look at the list of inactives illustrates this.

Patriots inactives

• DB Joshuah Bledsoe
• RB Kevin Harris
• CB Jalen Mills
• DT Sam Roberts
• DB Brenden Schooler
• TE Jonnu Smith
• CB Shaun Wade

Two of the Patriots’ inactives were already known heading into Sunday: cornerback Jalen Mills and tight end Jonnu Smith will miss the game. Mills is missing a sixth straight game with a groin injury; Smith is out for a second week in a row because of a concussion.

Also inactive is core special teamer Brenden Schooler. While listed as questionable heading into the contest due to a hip injury, he is not able to take the field.

The other two inactives, meanwhile, are good to go. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (shoulder) and cornerback Jonathan Jones (chest) are both active, as are two players making their returns after recently missing time: wide receiver DeVante Parker and cornerback/return specialist Marcus Jones are back. The two were out three and one games because of concussions.

Bills inactives

• CB Christian Benford
• OL Ike Boettger
• S Jared Mayden
• OL Justin Murray
• LB Baylon Spector
• TE Tommy Sweeney

The Bills had no players listed on their final injury report of the week, meaning that they are at full strength heading into today’s game. Five of their six inactives are healthy scratches, with cornerback Christian Benford (oblique) not yet ready to play after just being activated from injured reserve.