The New England Patriots have a lot to feel good about coming out of their win over the Cleveland Browns, including that they are trending in the right direction health-wise. After only having to rule out one player — safety Kyle Dugger (knee) — for medical reasons, they also did not appear to suffer any significant injuries during the 32-13 victory.
Let’s assess the damage after rewatching the game.
Patriots injury analysis: Week 8
DT Khyiris Tonga: The big-bodied defensive tackle exited the game in the early third quarter. Assisting
in taking down running back Quinshon Judkins, he came down hard on his left side. Tonga did not require immediate medical assistance and jogged off the field under his own power, but he did not reenter the contest down the stretch. That said, he remained on the sideline and was made available to the media on both Sunday and Monday confirming that the knee injury that was announced by the team was not a major concern.
What this means for the Patriots
Even though Tonga’s game against the Browns came to an end with more than 13 minutes on the clock in the third quarter, he made sure to let the media know on Monday that he was fine.
“Everything’s good,” he said. “Just fell on it wrong. Just fell a little weird. But everything’s smooth now.”
With Tonga’s knee ailment seemingly nothing to worry about, and with Kyle Dugger’s knee issue also not expected to be a long-term hinderance, the Patriots are in pretty decent shape with their first eight games of the season in the books. They already entered Browns weekend with only Dugger left on their injury report, and the injury list should remain fairly short moving into Week 9.
The first practice report of the week set to be released on Wednesday will give us further clarity, though. The Patriots will host the Atlanta Falcons at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
