It’s getting closer to the time when the Raiders will have wished they just sent Nate Hobbs to injured reserve. The third-year cornerback suffered an ankle injury in the days leading up to their Week four games against the Chargers that caused him to miss that game. Now he will miss his third straight game when a trip to IR would have meant he missed four games.
Nate Hobbs officially OUT for #Raiders. While #Patriots will be without DE Matt Judon and WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas pic.twitter.com/j0mJqhWXrs
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) October 13, 2023
Hobbs’s absence obviously makes the Raiders short-handed on defense. He is the best cornerback on the roster and their primary slot cornerback. The first three weeks, he was a starter along with Marcus Peters and Jakorian Bennett. It’s possible that come Sunday, Peters could be the one of those three on the field.
Bennett is Questionable for the game after being limited all week with a shoulder injury.
Last week against the Packers, it was Tyler Hall and Amik Robertson who received the bulk of the snaps at cornerback and that figures to be the case again.
Missing for the Patriots is Pro Bowl defensive end Matthew Judon (elbow) along with wide receivers Demario Davis and JuJu Smith-Schuster who both are OUT with concussions. A number of other players are Questionable.