The hidden vulnerability in the Patriots’ secondary that might reshape their late-season push. DH
With the New England Patriots placing Alex Austin on IR, the team is looking at a short depth chart for the month of December.
After Alex Austin was placed on injured reserve for the next four games with an undisclosed injury, the New England Patriots were down to four healthy cornerbacks on the roster heading into Week 12.
Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Carlton Davis and Charles Woods make up the group of players that are tasked with defending other team’s pass catchers for the next few weeks. During his press conference, Mike Vrabel announced that the team would be bringing up Miles Battle from the practice squad as a result.
The Patriots have gotten good play out of Gonzalez and Jones all season, while Davis has slowly bounced back — including breaking up three passes in the team’s win in Cincinnati last week. Woods is mainly used on special teams, but may be tasked with stepping up defensively as well.
It might be time to add another name to that bunch.
Battle was the likely addition to the group. He was a fluid defender during his short stint in uniform last year, and may make sense as someone who could replace Austin as the fourth/fifth cornerback. As part of this season, Battle was promoted once to the game day roster, but has spent most of his time on the scout team — a group his head coach praised recently.
“We have a lot of admiration, respect, gratitude for the players that give us those looks throughout the week,” Vrabel said. “I think they take great pride in that. We ask them to try to – they’re being evaluated, we’re trying to put it the best as we can in our language, and letting them play football, letting them compete, try to stay up and take care of each other. We don’t want anything that’s out of control, but I think improvement has been made by players on those units. They give us a fantastic look in first, second, third down.”
Kobee Minor may be another player to get a call up this week. The rookie out of Memphis was activated for the team’s Week 2 win over Miami in September, but hasn’t seen the field since. He had a strong camp, but hadn’t been promoted since. Minor was this year’s Mr. Irrelevant and was released from the active roster this summer.
There’s no one else in the organization that the team would be able to add. Marcellas Dial tore his ACL during training camp and has been out for the entire year, and the team released Corey Ballentine earlier in the season after he made his Patriots debut.
So who else could be out there?
Stephon Gilmore is a big name that most Patriots fans would be happy about. The longtime veteran and former Defensive Player of the Year was beloved during his four seasons with New England, and could add a veteran savviness to a young defensive back room.
Other names may include Cameron Sutton, Kevin King and Cam Dantzler — all free agents who have had flashes as reserve players across the league.
But the Patriots — sitting pretty at 10-2, the best record in the entire league — may roll the dice and stick with who they have now. Gonzalez continues to blanket the other team’s best wideouts, while Jones may just be the team’s most valuable defender.
When healthy, Austin is slated to return to the active roster in Week 18 against the Miami Dolphins.
