Tag: Jason McCourty

Six players limited, Shilique Calhoun misses Patriots practice for Week 17

Patriots defensive end Shilique Calhoun missed Thursday’s practice with an illness.

The New England Patriots are fairly healthy after 16 weeks of football.

New England plays the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and only one player missed practice on Thursday, with six players limited. Shilique Calhoun was the lone absent player and he was out with an illness. Calhoun started his first NFL game this year and he’s played a career-high 14 games this season. He’s made an impact as a pass rusher and in the special teams unit.

The six limited players included Julian Edelman (knee/shoulder), Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee), Marcus Cannon (ankle), Jamie Collins (shoulder), Jonathan Jones (groin) and Jason McCourty (groin). The three most important players on that list included Cannon, Edelman and Collins.

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Jon Jones, Jason McCourty and Marcus Cannon present at Patriots practice

The New England Patriots had a low-speed practice on Christmas Eve ahead of the Miami Dolphins matchup.

The New England Patriots had a low-speed practice on Christmas Eve ahead of the Miami Dolphins matchup.

Marcus Cannon, Jason McCourty and Jonathan Jones all were present at practice after missing last week’s game. McCourty left the game with a groin injury, Cannon exited the game with an ankle injury and Jones missed the game entirely with a groin injury.

Julian Edelman and Tom Brady were present as well.

The Patriots are looking to clinch a first-round bye with a victory against the Dolphins on Sunday.

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Marcus Cannon, Jason McCourty exit Week 16 with injuries

A tough first half for Patriots injuries.

The New England Patriots saw starters on both side of the ball leave the game in the first half of Week 16 against the Buffalo Bills. Right tackle Marcus Cannon (ankle) and cornerback Jason McCourty (groin) departed the game, and the Patriots declared both players as questionable to return.

Cannon wasn’t on the injury report this week, so it appears he flared a relatively new injury. He limped off the field before getting replaced by Marshall Newhouse. McCourty was limited all week with his groin injury — he also missed Week 15 and Week 13 because of it. It seems to have hampered him in recent weeks. His departure is particularly costly, with cornerback Jonathan Jones declared out before the game.

We’ll keep you updated if either player returns in the second half.

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Jon Jones out and Julian Edelman active for Week 16 vs. Bills

Edelman and Jason McCourty will play.

The New England Patriots will not have cornerback Jonathan Jones, who was ruled out on Thursday for the team’s game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Saturday in Week 16.

Though they were listed on the injury report, receiver Julian Edelman (knee/shoulder), cornerback Jason McCourty (groin) and linebackers Jamie Collins (shoulder) and Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee) will be active. McCourty’s presence on the gameday roster is a surely welcome addition, as he missed Week 15 and may take a large number of snaps in the slot, where Jones predominantly played.

Here’s a look at New England’s inactives beyond Jones:

QB Cody Kessler
RB Damien Harris
TE Ryan Izzo
OT Korey Cunningham
OL Jermaine Eluemunor
DT Byron Cowart
CB Jonathan Jones (groin)

Here’s a look at the Bills’ inactives.

The Patriots kick off against the Bills at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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Julian Edelman, Jason McCourty questionable for Week 16 vs. Bills

Jon Jones is out, as expected.

The New England Patriots will be without cornerback Jonathan Jones, who missed all three practices in Week 16 with a groin injury. He was ruled out for the team’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

The Patriots had four limited participants, all listed as questionable, on Thursday: LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee), WR Julian Edelman (knee/shoulder), LB Jamie Collins (shoulder) and CB Jason McCourty (groin).

McCourty missed Week 15 with his groin injury — his injury will be worth monitoring with Jones’ injury already thinning the cornerback position. Collins was added to the injury report on Wednesday. And Edelman has been on the injury report for most of the season, but suffered a knee injury during Week 14, and seems to be inhibited significantly.

Belichick addressed how tricky it can be to manage an injured player, like Edelman, who might need a rest-week but the Patriots need him more.

Again, at this point, you’re kind of in a lot of one-game-seasons,” Belichick said during a press conference on Thursday. “But, there’s a game after this and we’re fortunate we have at least one more game after that. But, as they’re getting fewer and fewer, then I’d say there’s fewer options and again, you have to try to figure out what’s best for that player, what’s best for the team and so forth.

“But, it’s a normal problem with every position, it’s not one player – this year, it was just this player – every year it’s multiple players throughout the entire course of the year, and every team goes through it – that I know of. So, you just do the best you can to manage it, and you stay in constant communication with the player, the people who are training him and working on him, and again the coaches that are involved in his utilization.”

The Patriots kick off against the Buffalo at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

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Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett among active players for Patriots-Texans

Only two players will miss the Patriots game on Sunday night due to illness.

Despite having 17 players questionable for Sunday night with an illness, the New England Patriots will head into their matchup with the Houston Texans considerably healthy.

The Patriots also will bring back receivers Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dorsett, who missed Week 12 with injuries. The most significant players to miss the game include Jason McCourty and Ryan Izzo. J.C. Jackson will start again at cornerback and rookie Joejuan Williams will likely see more time on the defensive side. Ben Watson and Matt LaCosse will the team’s tight ends for the night.

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Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett, Jason McCourty inactive for Week 12 vs. Cowboys

A rough situation at WR.

The New England Patriots will be without two of their top wideouts for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12.

Receivers Mohamed Sanu (ankle) and Phillip Dorsett (concussion) will not play. The Patriots will instead look to their rookie receivers in N’Keal Harry, a 2019 first-round pick who missed the first half of the season with an ankle injury, and Jakobi Meyers, who went undrafted. Both players seem to be coming along slowly.

Tackle Isaiah Wynn will make his return from injury, which is likely to bump Marshall Newhouse out of the left tackle spot. Wynn, who the Patriots drafted in the first round in 2018, hasn’t played since Week 2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   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Safety Patrick Chung is also making his return after missing Week 11.

The rest of the Patriots’ inactives are as follows: offensive lineman Korey Cunningham, running back Damien Harris, quarterback Cody Kessler, cornerback Jason McCourty and tight end Ryan Izzo. McCourty is another surprise — he cropped up on the injury report with a groin injury on Friday when he was limited in practice.

Here’s a look at the Cowboys’ inactives, which include star linebacker Leighton Vander Esch.

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Winners and losers from Patriots’ hard-fought win over the Eagles

A rough night for Tom Brady and the passing game.

Here are the winners and the losers from the New England Patriots’ 17-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Stadium on Sunday.

Winner: The Patriots secondary

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz almost doubled his passing yards in the final five minutes of the game, but while those drives finished with significant yardage, the Patriots allowed no fourth-quarter points. That was thanks in large part to New England’s secondary.

Wentz finished the game 20-of-40 for 214 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots secondary, particularly Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson, were impressive in keeping the Eagles’ pass-catchers at bay. (It helped that their receiving corps looked depleted without Alshon Jeffery.)

Safety Terrence Brooks also played in Patrick Chung’s role while he was out with an injury. Brooks finished tied with a team-high seven tackles, but also added two pass breakups and a pair of quarterback hits; he has been a pleasant surprise since joining the team with the apparently-unfair label as solely a special teams standout.

Even on the Eagles’ second-longest play of the game, a 25-yarder from Wentz to Zach Ertz in the fourth quarter, the quarterback had to zip the ball into an incredibly tight and dangerous window. It was remarkable (and perhaps lucky) to complete the pass. Wentz tried something similar on the following play and McCoury got a hand on it, which nearly resulted in an interception.

Loser: Jason McCourty, CB

There was one exception to the strong play among New England’s defensive backs: Jason McCourty. He made a costly mistake in the first play from scrimmage by committing a pass interference that cost the Patriots 49 yards. Wentz later targeted receiver Mack Hollins down the right sideline on a double move, which fooled McCourty. J.C. Jackson took over for McCourty as the team’s second cornerback. That said, in the fourth quarter, McCourty got redemption with two crucial fourth-quarter breakups.

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This insane statistic puts perspective on Patriots’ lockdown secondary

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots. 

Here’s a disclaimer for NFL teams: Don’t throw a deep ball against the New England Patriots.

Through nine games this season, opposing quarterbacks have a 13.3 passer rating while throwing 21 yards or more in the air, H/T Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. New England has more interceptions (7) than opposing teams have completions (5) when throwing for more than 21 yards.

The second-best team in this category is the Buffalo Bills, who have kept opposing quarterbacks at a 40.6 passer rating. But, they’ve only had 20 pass attempts against them, compared to New England with 44 pass attempts. The Patriots have the No. 2 pass defense in the league currently with 150.2 passing yards allowed per game.

The secondary is primarily composed of Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson, Pat Chung and Duron Harmon. Devin leads the group with five interceptions and Gilmore is second in the unit with three.  New England has a league-high 19 interceptions through nine games and the second-best team has 14.

The Patriots have accumulated a league-high 270 yards from interceptions along with two touchdowns. They’ve been able to create great field position for the offense, while helping hold opposing offenses to an average of 10.9 points per game.

New England struggled against the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 9 loss, but it was mostly due to the run defense. Baltimore had 210 rushing yards against the Patriots and only 162 passing yards.

This secondary has some talented quarterbacks ahead of them with Carson Wentz, Day Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. It would be an incredible feat if the Patriots could keep these numbers up for the entirety of the season.

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