Patriots injury report: Cole Strange out, 9 others questionable vs. Colts
DeMario Douglas (ankle) is among those questionable.
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The Patriots are entering their matchup against the Colts with a hefty injury report.
Offensive lineman Cole Strange was the only player New England declared out for Week 13. Strange, the Patriots’ 2022 first-round draft pick, was designated for return last week as he recovers from a knee injury he sustained last season. He practiced for the first time this season last Wednesday and has been a limited participant since.
Though Strange has solely played as a guard in New England, all signs point toward him playing center upon his eventual return. The 26-year-old has been receiving coaching from veteran center David Andrews as the pair have been sidelined with their respective ailments.
Head coach Jerod Mayo said Friday that he expects Strange and other young offensive linemen to perform over the next few weeks.
“I would say, not to get too specific, but I will,” Mayo said. “You need a guy like Layden Robinson to show what he can do. We need a guy like Cole Strange before the end of the season to see what he can do. You can use Caedan [Wallace] in that same bucket. We need to see what the receivers can do and what they’re going to look like going forward.”
As for the rest of this week’s injury report, the Patriots could also miss two other key offensive pieces on Sunday. Wide receiver DeMario Douglas (ankle) and tackle Vederian Lowe (shoulder) were listed as questionable to play versus Indianapolis.
Douglas is New England’s leader in receptions (48) and receiving yards (477) this season. The second-year WR and rookie quarterback Drake Maye have connected more frequently in recent weeks.
Defensively, the Patriots are hurting. With seven players on that side of the ball questionable and coming off an embarrassing 34-15 loss against the Dolphins last week, something’s got to give.
In the secondary, safeties Kyle Dugger (ankle) and Jabrill Peppers (knee) aren’t certain to play this weekend. Dugger is coming off a tough performance last week and has been battling injuries for most of the season; Peppers returned to the team for the first time in nearly two months.
Peppers, who began the season as a captain, was removed from the commissioner’s exempt list this week and reinstated to New England’s active roster. He was away from the team following his arrest on Oct. 5 in Braintree. Peppers faces multiple assault and battery charges, among others. His jury trial is set for Jan. 22.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft said last month that if the allegations against Peppers were true, the player would no longer be on the team.
Rounding out the rest of the team’s questionable players are linebackers Christian Elliss, Anfernee Jennings, and Sione Takitaki (all of whom are dealing with knee injuries), plus defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy (neck) and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. (foot).
The following five players were full participants from practice on Friday and were removed from the injury report: DTs Christian Barmore (not injury related) and Daniel Ekuale (elbow), cornerback Christian Gonzalez (hip), S Marte Mapu (neck) and LB Keion White (knee).
Patriots-Colts is slated to kick off at 1 p.m. on Dec. 1 from Gillette Stadium.
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