The New England Patriots have plenty to feel good about following their 23-20 upset win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, but there is one big exception. Running back Antonio Gibson was unable to finish the game and subsequently diagnosed with a torn ACL; his season is over after just five games.
Gibson highlights this week’s injury analysis, but he is not the only Patriot to get banged up. After rewatching the game, let’s assess the damage.
Patriots injury analysis: Week 5
CB Carlton Davis III: The Patriots’ No. 2 cornerback
remained down after a play that was eventually called back for offensive holding. Trying to stop what would have been a 6-yard run, he got leg-whipped by teammate Christian Elliss resulting in an awkward bend in his lower left leg. However, he got up and managed to walk off and into the blue medical tent under own power. Davis was back for next defensive drive, meaning that he effectively missed one snap.
RB Antonio Gibson: As noted above, Gibson is done for the year after tearing his ACL on a second quarter kickoff return. The play itself saw him absorb a hard collision and fumble the football in the process. It appears the injury might actually have happened before impact — his right leg was planted at an unusual angle before he got hit — but that observation cannot be fully confirmed from the outside looking in. Neither does it change anything: the 27-year-old is now headed toward an uncertain future.
ED Keion White: Antonio Gibson was not the only Patriots player unable to finish Sunday’s game. Outside linebacker Keion White also did not make it to the finish line after he suffered what was announced by the team as an elbow injury. His final snap of the night came with 13:38 left in the third quarter on a 9-yard James Cook run — a play that did not see him obviously get hurt. However, he was off the field for the next play and not seen again. That being said, he did remain on the sidelines for the rest of the contest and did not look like he was in obvious discomfort afterwards either.
What this means for the Patriots
We already spoke about Antonio Gibson’s season-ending injury in more detail here. The tl:dr is that the Patriots will need to bolster their running back depth behind what is now a top two of Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, and are also tasked with finding a new kickoff returner (a job that might just go to one of the two backs as well).
As for Carlton Davis and Keion White, it seems that both might have avoided major injury. Davis was back shortly after his friendly-fire incident, whereas White not leaving for the locker room can be interpreted as a positive sign as well. Nonetheless, the third-year defensive lineman is the bigger question mark of the two given that he did not finish the game on the field.
Of course, the first practice of the week and subsequent injury report on Wednesday will give us more clarity about them and any other under-the-radar issues that might have come up.
The Patriots will travel to New Orleans this week to take on the Saints. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
