Sunday’s road trip to MetLife Stadium will be an unusually difficult one for the New England Patriots with the New York Jets sitting at 5-2 and riding a four-game winning streak.
The Patriots will also be without an offensive captain and key defensive star heading into the matchup. On Friday, the team announced that center David Andrews and defensive tackle Christian Barmore will both be out.
Barmore is still dealing with a knee injury from the team’s Week 6 win over the Cleveland Browns, while Andrews was on the receiving end of what is being called an “extremely dirty play” by Chicago Bears defensive lineman Mike Pennel.
Not having Barmore on the defensive front is concerning for a Patriots team that just gave up 243 rushing yards to the Bears. And offensive line injuries are obviously the last thing the team needs right now when they’re already struggling to move the ball down the field.
The good news is standout safety Kyle Dugger returned to practice in limited fashion, and both wideout Kendrick Bourne and right guard Michael Onwenu were removed from the injury report.
It may not be easy, and they’ll clearly be entering the game a bit banged up. But there’s still hope for the Patriots to ruin the streaking Jets and get back on track.
