It seems as though the flu is in New England, and not even the Patriots locker room is safe. Out of the season-high 17 players on the team’s injury report, 10 of them were listed with an illness.
Patriots list 17 players as questionable for Sunday, including WR Julian Edelman, CB Stephon Gilmore, LB Kyle Van Noy, S Patrick Chung, LB Jamie Collins, LB Dont’a Hightower, WR Mohamed Sanu and OT Isaiah Wynn.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2019
“It would have been hard if we had to play (Thursday),” head coach Bill Belichick told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “It’s kind of hit everybody a little bit, so we’ll see.”
According to Reiss, several starters have missed practices this week while some were limited in their participation ahead of Sunday night’s game against the Houston Texans.
The players listed as questionable include Kyle Van Noy, Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Chung, and Isaiah Wynn, all of them starters. Tight end Ryan Izzo has been ruled out.
One of the more notable non-illness related injuries for the Patriots is Mohamed Sanu, who is dealing with an ankle sprain and is listed as questionable.
There is a possibility that New England will be without several key pieces of their defense that has come through for them all season. Through 11 games, the Patriots defense has allowed just 2,820 yards, only the San Francisco 49ers have allowed less. They have also forced a league-high 29 turnovers, including 20 interceptions, which they may badly miss going up against Deshaun Watson.
