The New England Patriots’ leading tackler of the 2024 season is back. Linebacker Jahlani Tavai, who started 16 of 17 games last year while finishing with 109 tackles, is set to make his 2025 debut against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Tavai missed the first four games of the Patriots’ campaign with a calf injury suffered during organized team activities in June. The issue kept him out throughout the rest of the spring and the entire summer, and forced him to miss the early parts of the regular season
as well. However, he returned to practice on Wednesday and went through the week as a full participant.
On Saturday, the 29-year-old was officially activated from IR to the 53-man roster. One day later, despite originally carrying the “questionable” label into the weekend, he is part of the game day team.
Tavai’s comeback is not the only positive news for the Patriots defense ahead of its game against Josh Allen and the high-flying Bills offense. Two starters also listed as questionable — DT Milton Williams and CB Carlton Davis — have also received the green light for Sunday night.
The Patriots’ inactives, meanwhile, look as follows:
Patriots inactives
- QB Tommy DeVito
- WR Efton Chism III
- OL Caedan Wallace
- DT Eric Gregory
- ED K’Lavon Chaisson
The Patriots had one player ruled out ahead of their trip to Buffalo, with outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson not cleared for game action after missing two of three practices this week due to a knee injury.
The other inactives, meanwhile are all of the healthy scratch variety. Five weeks into the season, Tommy DeVito, Efton Chism, Caedan Wallace and Eric Gregory remain emergency options at their respective positions.
Bills inactives
- WR Elijah Moore
- OT Chase Lundt
- LB Dorian Williams
- DT Ed Oliver
- DT T.J. Sanders
- CB Brandon Codrington
- CB Jordan Hancock
The Bills will once again be without one of their best players on Sunday, with defensive tackle Ed Oliver set to miss his fourth straight game due to an ankle injury. The team will, however, get starting linebacker Matt Milano back from the pectoral issue he was recently dealing with.
Kickoff between the Patriots and Panthers in Foxborough is set for 1 p.m. ET.
