The New England Patriots are deep offensively entering their Week 6 game against the New York Jets — more on that in a second — but they are again relatively thin at cornerback. Three members of the group are out once more, with Carlton Davis, Channing Canada and Karon Prunty all inactive due to injuries.
The trio missed last week’s game versus the Las Vegas Raiders as well. There is one big difference between that Sunday and this one, though: Christian Gonzalez is back from his shoulder ailment.
The highest-paid cornerback in football was a limited practice participant on Wednesday, before participating fully to close out the week on Thursday and Friday. He subsequently went without a game status and is full-go versus New York.
The Patriots’ full game day roster looks as follows.
Patriots game day roster: Week 6 vs. Jets
Quarterback (2): Drake Maye (10), Tommy DeVito (16)
Running back (3): Rhamondre Stevenson (38), TreVeyon Henderson (32), Corey Kiner (9)
Wide receiver (5): A.J. Brown (1), Romeo Doubs (87), DeMario Douglas (3), Kyle Williams (18 | KR), Efton Chism III (86)
Tight end (3): Hunter Henry (85), Eli Raridon (82), Cameron Latu (36)
Offensive tackle (3): Will Campbell (66 | LT), Morgan Moses (76 | RT), Caleb Lomu (74)
Interior offensive line (5): Alijah Vera-Tucker (75 | LG), Jared Wilson (55 | C), Ben Brown (77 | RG), Walter Rouse (72), Matt Pryor (65)
Interior defensive line (6): Milton Williams (97), Christian Barmore (90), Cory Durden (94), Joshua Farmer (92), DaQuan Jones (99), Leonard Taylor III (93)
Defensive edge (3): Dre’Mont Jones (5), Elijah Ponder (91), Gabe Jacas (50)
Linebacker (5): Robert Spillane (14), Christian Elliss (53), Darius Muasau (54), Namdi Obiazor (48), Erick Hunter (49)
Cornerback (4): Christian Gonzalez (0), Marcus Jones (25 | PR), Charles Woods (22), Kindle Vildor (28)
Safety (6): Kevin Byard (31), Craig Woodson (4), Jaylen Reed (23), Brenden Schooler (41), Mike Brown (33), Elliott Davison (27 | Practice squad elevation)
Specialists (3): Andy Borregales (8 | K), Mitch Wishnowsky (19 | P/H), Julian Ashby (47 | LS)
There was a scenario coming out of last week’s game against the Raiders, that the Patriots might be without multiple of their top offensive players. And yet, we can see that those worries ultimately were not warranted.
A.J. Brown is back off of injured reserve. Will Campbell is active despite suffering a knee injury last week. TreVeyon Henderson is active in spite of an ankle issue. Yes, Mack Hollins, Reggie Gilliam and Mike Onwenu are still out — and in Onwenu’s case expected to remain out for the foreseeable future — but the supporting cast around quarterback Drake Maye is still the best it has been in quite a while.
That is especially true at wide receiver, where Brown is expected to resume his role as the No. 1 option. He might not get a full workload, but he still will be heavily involved, which in turn might impact how the rest of the receivers are employed.
Patriots reserves
Inactives (6): QB3 Behren Morton (15), OT Dametrious Crownover (68), TE Tanner Arkin (84), CB Carlton Davis III (7), CB Channing Canada (29), CB Karon Prunty (21)
Practice squad (16): RB Lan Larison (34), WR Kyle Dixon (83), WR Cameron Dorner (88), WR Chandler Brayboy (81), TE Tanner Conner (80), OT Lorenz Metz (61 | exempt), OL Jake Kubas (63), OL Xavier Newman-Johnson (64), DT Eric Gregory (95), DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (98), ED Xavier Holmes (58), ED Benton Whitley (42), LB K.J. Britt (35), CB Al’zillion Hamilton (26), CB D’Shawn Jamison (30)
Injured reserve (12): RB Myles Montgomery (39 | season-ending), FB Reggie Gilliam (44), WR Mack Hollins (13), WR Jeremiah Webb (29 | season-ending), TE Julian Hill (80 | season-ending), OT Marcus Bryant (52 | designated for return), G Mike Onwenu (71), G Greg Van Roten (70), ED Quintayvious Hutchins (45), LB Khalil Jacobs (59), S Dell Pettus (24), P Bryce Baringer (17)
PUP/reserve (1): ED Harold Landry (2)
New England saw some movement among its reserves this week, with the aforementioned A.J. Brown officially coming off IR on Saturday. The Patriots also decided against elevating any running backs from the practice squad or keeping offensive tackle Dametrious Crownover on the game day roster to provide extra depth at their respective positions, a positive sign for TreVeyon Henderson and Will Campbell.
The Patriots’ Week 6 game at Gillette Stadium will be kicked off at 1 p.m. ET.
