The New England Patriots will host the Pittsburgh Steelers with uncertainty on the outside.
Cornerback Carlton Davis III has been listed as questionable for the 2026 home opener due to a neck injury, as Mike Vrabel previously told reporters during his Friday press conference.
“I don’t want to assume, but he’ll be questionable,” New England’s head coach said of the veteran starter, who has remained a non-participant for three consecutive practices. “We’ll have to see how he comes in here tomorrow. We’ll continue
to evaluate and if the designation changes, we’ll update everybody.”
Interior offensive lineman Ben Brown and outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones also carry questionable statuses into the weekend, while rookie tackle Dametrious Crownover has been officially ruled out.
Here’s the final injury report leading up to Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium.
OUT
Patriots
- OT Dametrious Crownover (knee)
Steelers
- CB Joey Porter Jr. (conditioning, back)
Crownover, the No. 196 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, stayed sidelined throughout preparations because of a knee injury. The reserve tackle out of Texas A&M saw two snaps on special teams during his Patriots debut last week. And for the Steelers, there will be no Porter in the secondary. The fourth-year cornerback missed the first matchup of September and has since been listed for non-injury reasons, conditioning as well as a back ailment.
QUESTIONABLE
Patriots
- OL Ben Brown (knee)
- LB Dre’Mont Jones (foot)
- CB Carlton Davis III (neck)
Steelers
- OT Troy Fautanu (ankle)
- WR Michael Pittman Jr. (foot)
Brown and Jones logged back-to-back-to-back limited practices in Foxborough before being called questionable. The picture is less clear for Davis as well as a big-bodied wide receiver across the aisle. In the season opener versus the Seattle Seahawks, the veteran cornerback played 49 out of 50 defensive snaps despite briefly departing after making a tackle for no gain in the first quarter at Lumen Field. He was in attendance for Monday’s bonus practice before missing Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s sessions.
In the event Davis’ questionable status ends up in the inactives, the list of options to join All-Pro Christian Gonzalez on the boundary begin with 2025 waiver claim Charles Woods and team captain Marcus Jones. The depth chart also includes fifth-rounder Karon Prunty and undrafted rookie Channing Canada on the 53-man roster. And Kindle Vildor, now 80 games and 27 starts into his NFL career, resides on the practice squad.
Elsewhere, running back TreVeyon Henderson and linebacker Robert Spillane will go without game statuses after finishing the work week as full participants.
