<\/p>\n
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, right, checks on offensive tackle Morgan Moses as he lies on the field during the first half of an NFL football game New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
Mark Stockwell\/AP Photo\/Mark Stockwell<\/p>\n
New England Patriots wide receiver Romeo Doubs, center, on ground, is tended to after a possible injury during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
Charles Krupa\/AP Photo\/Charles Krupa<\/p>\n
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, right, helps center Ben Brown, center, up from the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
Mark Stockwell\/AP Photo\/Mark Stockwell<\/p>\n
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye responds to a question during news conference after an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
Charles Krupa\/AP Photo\/Charles Krupa<\/p>\n
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game New York Jets in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n
Charles Krupa\/AP Photo\/Charles Krupa<\/p>\n
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) \u2014 The Patriots are testing the boundaries of the \u201cnext man up\u201d mentality that is preached across a league in which injuries are guaranteed every week.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New England has just three days to recover coming off a 26-19 win over the New York Jets during which it lost three offensive linemen to injuries.<\/p>\n
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Right tackle Morgan Moses (ankle) and left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring) were Week 1 starters, while Ben Brown (knee) was starting at right guard for the second straight week. Brown was in the lineup after Mike Onwenu (ankle) was placed on injured reserve after two games and Greg Van Roten, his original replacement, went on IR the following week.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs bad as it is and as unfortunate as it is, that\u2019s just the way this game goes,\u201d left tackle Will Campbell said. \u201cI feel like some guys stepped up big for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Patriots, who play at Chicago on Thursday night, are banged up at other spots. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs exiting in the first quarter with a shoulder issue following his touchdown catch and was placed on injured reserve on Monday. Coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged the injuries will require everyone to remain fluid this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to figure out who we have available and find 48 to put out there,\u201d Vrabel said.<\/p>\n
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Rookie Caleb Lomu, a week after coming in for Campbell, jumped in at right tackle for Moses, with Walter Rouse subbing in at right tackle and Matt Pryor at left guard.<\/p>\n
Lomu, Rouse and Pryor helped open lanes that allowed the Patriots to eventually run out the clock in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody prepares as a starter. I can\u2019t wait to watch those guys that prepare all week without knowing whether they\u2019re going to get an opportunity to play,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cAnd then when they do, take advantage of it, and that\u2019s a testament to those players.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s working<\/p>\n
Despite the offensive line injuries, the group kept Drake Maye off the turf. The quarterback wasn\u2019t sacked Sunday, the first time that has happened this season. He has been sacked only twice over the past three games after being taken down nine times in the first three.<\/p>\n
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What needs help<\/p>\n
Ball security. The Patriots are second in the NFL this season with 13 turnovers (six lost fumbles, seven interceptions), behind only the Los Angeles Chargers with 15 (seven fumbles, eight INTs).<\/p>\n
Fixing that is a top priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll rep it more. We\u2019ll put more time into it, I guess. I don\u2019t know how you can put any more time into the amount of ball security drills we do,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cI\u2019m certainly cognizant. You can put it on me. That\u2019s probably the easiest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Stock up<\/p>\n
Lomu and Pryor. They allowed zero pressures on Maye during their combined 106 snaps.<\/p>\n
Stock down<\/p>\n
WR DeMario Douglas. He caught a 9-yard touchdown in the second quarter, but also had a 39-yard catch that ended with him getting the ball ball punched out from behind by Jamien Sherwood. The fumble led to a Jets field goal.<\/p>\n
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Injuries<\/p>\n
The Patriots have moved quickly to replenish the backup depth on the O-line, adding Andrew Rupcich and Jacob Rizy to the practice squad.<\/p>\n
Key number<\/p>\n
2 \u2014 The number of games in a row that Maye has gone without a turnover.<\/p>\n
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Next steps<\/p>\n
The Patriots have a short turnaround before heading to Chicago for Thursday\u2019s primetime matchup.<\/p>\n
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See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, right, checks on offensive tackle Morgan Moses as he lies on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1032102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[2316,10558,53135,7724,692,833,7,6643,124493,23807,24892,7883,838,11814,1167,249,2326,2094,6,83966,27878,208,134167,27876,83964,126723,126724,116402,126725,126726,126727,3995,55153,351],"class_list":["post-1032103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-alijah-vera-tucker","tag-andrew-rupcich","tag-ben-brown","tag-caleb-lomu","tag-chicago","tag-drake-maye","tag-football","tag-greg-van-roten","tag-jacob-rizy","tag-jamien-sherwood","tag-matt-pryor","tag-mike-onwenu","tag-mike-vrabel","tag-morgan-moses","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-analysis-vrabel","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-33351-ap-online-analysis","tag-product-40778-ap-connecticut-sports-only","tag-product-40790-ap-maine-sports-only","tag-product-40791-ap-massachusetts-sports-only","tag-product-40799-ap-new-hampshire-sports-only","tag-product-40811-ap-rhode-island-sports-only","tag-product-40817-ap-vermont-sports-only","tag-romeo-doubs","tag-walter-rouse","tag-will-campbell"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1032103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1032102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1032103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1032103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1032103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}