2018 Patriots: Injury Watch

lexrageorge

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Michel was initially announced as "Questionable" to return, right? My understanding is that they know ACL or Achilles tears right away, so that would suggest it wasn't one of those.
I can certainly remember cases where players were initially ruled "questionable to return" and ended up on IR 2 days later.

While I believe that most ACL and Achilles injuries can be diagnosed on the sidelines, I don't think that applies to all such injuries. And the medical staff will want to see some sort of confirmation through imaging and other tests before making any definitive diagnosis regardless.

Sorry for the pessimistic tone.
 

Ed Hillel

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Do we need to add Gordon? Here’s the last play, it certainly looks like he comes up lame after the defender pulled his leg:
 

richgedman'sghost

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Wasn't Gordon in on the last play? I'm pretty sure that he leaped over the Bears player to try to deflect the pass. If he was injured, I don't think the Pats would have had him on the final play.
 

Ed Hillel

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Wasn't Gordon in on the last play? I'm pretty sure that he leaped over the Bears player to try to deflect the pass. If he was injured, I don't think the Pats would have had him on the final play.
That’s a good point. I guess he just ran out of gas, which is odd, but whatever. I suppose he hasn’t played in a ton of games for a while.
 

dcdrew10

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While I believe that most ACL and Achilles injuries can be diagnosed on the sidelines, I don't think that applies to all such injuries. And the medical staff will want to see some sort of confirmation through imaging and other tests before making any definitive diagnosis regardless.

Sorry for the pessimistic tone.
Not a doctor, but a veteran of 2 ACL tears and in my experience this is correct. They can do a couple of manual tests of the stability of knee to get an idea if there is a test, but it takes an MRI to confirm the degree of the tear (partial/full) and what the collateral damage is to the cartilage, which is more important long term. That’s my biggest worry with Sony’s knees. Think of Brandon Roy’s decline and retirement or Greg Oden’s failed career. Torn ligaments are fixable, torn cartilage is a lot more dicey.
 

Section15Box113

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Wasn't Gordon in on the last play? I'm pretty sure that he leaped over the Bears player to try to deflect the pass. If he was injured, I don't think the Pats would have had him on the final play.
He was definitely on the field for that play.

EDIT - NESN link so it’s not just me positing it:
nesn.com/2018/10/patriots-notes-how-new-england-foiled-bears-last-second-hail-mary-bid/amp/
 

Valek123

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High risk, High reward draft pick in Sony - hope this comes back with the best possible news as he was becoming a true difference maker(and personally I feel for the kid). This almost ensures Gillislee is picked up again doesn't it?
 

Shelterdog

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High risk, High reward draft pick in Sony - hope this comes back with the best possible news as he was becoming a true difference maker(and personally I feel for the kid). This almost ensures Gillislee is picked up again doesn't it?
There's no reason to think he was a particularly high risk draft pick; he only missed a handful of games. The only reporting about his knee being a problem pre-draft where leaks right before the draft by Friends of Bill Lombardi and Mayock that maybe he had a bone on bone situation; those frankly sound like disinformation by the Pats.

Sometimes guys just get hurt.
 

lexrageorge

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If it turns out that Michel's injury is serious enough for him to land on IR, I don't think anyone can pin that injury on his preexisting knee condition. That was an ugly looking fall that would probably tear ligaments in most knees.

His injury history, however, could be a factor in his long term recovery.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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Text from last night on Patriots’ RB Sony Michel and his injured knee: “Expect it will be a little bit but not overly serious. Won’t know til they look at it Monday.”
 

TFisNEXT

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I hate how we have become conditioned to celebrate a guy missing a month of football. I'm sick of injuries!
The life of a patriot fan for the past 15+ years (and esp past decade) has been to make sure the team is healthy and ready to go for the playoffs.

Honestly, it's a perfect time for Michel to miss just 3 games before the bye. The two road games are against chumps (TEN and BUF) the Patriots should easily beat and the one tough game against GB is in Foxoborugh...and GB might be more banged up than the Patriots.
 

TheoShmeo

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The life of a patriot fan for the past 15+ years (and esp past decade) has been to make sure the team is healthy and ready to go for the playoffs.

Honestly, it's a perfect time for Michel to miss just 3 games before the bye. The two road games are against chumps (TEN and BUF) the Patriots should easily beat and the one tough game against GB is in Foxoborugh...and GB might be more banged up than the Patriots.
This is true. But I do worry that missing 3-4 games is not the end of the story. We saw Michel take a few games to get his sea legs down as he came back from injury this summer. Being out for 3-4 games could mean that he will not be effective for 5-6 games. To your point, that's still before the playoffs and the playoffs are of course the main thing. But there is the little thing of getting there and seeding, and missing an effective Michel for this long will make the putt longer.
 

j44thor

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I'm surprised no team has picked up Orleans Darkwa. I think he has made a few FA visits but he is still out there. Avg 4.4 YPC behind a bad NYG OL last year and just turned 26.
Not much more than a journeyman but at this point that is probably all the Pats need.
 

RedOctober3829

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Schefter on Sony Michel: no structural damage. Week-to-week.


MRI on Patriots’ RB Sony Michel revealed no structural damage, per source. Michel will be considered week to week, per source. Best-case scenario for Michel and Patriots.
 

joe dokes

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This is true. But I do worry that missing 3-4 games is not the end of the story. We saw Michel take a few games to get his sea legs down as he came back from injury this summer. Being out for 3-4 games could mean that he will not be effective for 5-6 games. To your point, that's still before the playoffs and the playoffs are of course the main thing. But there is the little thing of getting there and seeding, and missing an effective Michel for this long will make the putt longer.
Good point, but I think (hope?) that the time it took him to get going had to be related to NFL acclimation, in addition to injury. Hopefully, he had a long enough run so that the acclimation part doesn't have to be repeated.
 

TheoShmeo

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Good point, but I think (hope?) that the time it took him to get going had to be related to NFL acclimation, in addition to injury. Hopefully, he had a long enough run so that the acclimation part doesn't have to be repeated.
A good hope and I would assume that was indeed part of it. If I had to rank order getting fully healthy and acclimation, I would put them in that order. But yeah, it's reasonable to believe that his experience thus far will help.
 

mcpickl

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I'm surprised no team has picked up Orleans Darkwa. I think he has made a few FA visits but he is still out there. Avg 4.4 YPC behind a bad NYG OL last year and just turned 26.
Not much more than a journeyman but at this point that is probably all the Pats need.
Darkwa has been in New England for workouts twice this year, once in April and again last month. He's a heavier guy that would make sense to go with White and Barner.
 

timelysarcasm

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Is Cordarelle a viable option for snaps at RB? Like 5 or so a game? It utilizes his only real skill, because he's basically useless as an WR.
That kick return yesterday was pretty nice.

I think they stick with Barner. Gillislee stinks and anyone else wouldn't be ensconced enough before Michel comes back anyway. Linebacker is the glaring, gaping wound that needs to be addressed at the deadline.
 

tmracht

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Has there been any word on Duke Dawson's progress?
Nothing I have seen has been definitive, but Mike Reiss did say on September 30th, that there was a chance he could come off IR this year along side Burkhead, while saying Bentley and Hill did not look to be able to recover in time for this season. But that was 3+ weeks ago, so sorry if that isn't helpful!
 

InstaFace

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I hate how we have become conditioned to celebrate a guy missing a month of football. I'm sick of injuries!
For running backs and offensive linemen, expectations on juries have been managed down so far that they're now subterranean. Those are the players for whom the NFL truly is Not For Long.
 

RedOctober3829

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Though RB Sony Michel and TE Rob Gronkowski missed practice Wednesday, the news continues to be positive on their injuries. According to a league source, Michel “may miss a week or two” while Gronkowski has “a shot” to return for his homecoming game Monday in Buffalo. #Patriots
 

normstalls

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per @patscap Duke Dawson was designated to return today...he will be eligible week 9 vs. GB. That leaves one IR-DTR left (Hill, Burkhead, and Bentley all eligible)