There were times when it was ugly, but the New England Patriots survived a tough game against the Miami Dolphins. Along the way, the injury bug hit the Patriots offense once again, this time taking out tight end Hunter Henry with an apparent foot injury.
Henry went down in the second quarter. At that point, the Patriots were struggling to find any success at all on offense, and it looked like another major blow given that Henry’s 3 receptions for 30 yards were the only thing working in the passing game at the time.
Luckily, the Patriots and quarterback Drake Maye were able to find newfound success in the second half to come from behind and win. That moved them to 5-3 on the season, though the concern immediately returned to Henry and what his status is going to be moving forward.
New England Patriots QB Drake Maye on TE Hunter Henry
Following the game, Maye was asked about the injury to Henry. Immediately, he was concerned about one of his favorite targets going down.
“It’s always tough losing Hunt,” Drake Maye said. “Any time with Hunt and Eli in there, when we were down some receivers, those guys were going to be big for us. … We felt like we had a chance to kind of work inside, and it was tough. I saw him when he got up from the catch. I was worried about him. I probably shouldn’t be worried about him, but I’m worried about Hunt.”
There is a silver lining, though. Once they got into the Patriots locker room, his attitude and demeanor were completely flipped. Seemingly, things are good. So, while Maye isn’t a doctor, there seems to be room for optimism moving forward.
“I know he went back in the locker room, but he seems fine in here. He seems like he’s walking around fine, and he’s got a smile on his face, so he’s always hunting,” Maye said.
Henry has had some of the best success of his career catching passes from Maye. Now, he’s being asked to continue to be productive while also acting as a mentor to rookie Eli Raridon. He’s thrived in that role, with 29 receptions for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns this season.
If Henry misses any extended period of time, he’d be a fourth key weapon in the passing game to go down. The Patriots went into Miami without their top three receivers. Still, Maye found success, and head coach Mike Vrabel gave him his flowers for it following the game.
“You wanna be a great quarterback in the National Football League, there’s not a whole lot of excuses,” Mike Vrabel said. “You go out there and you find ways to win for your football team. I know that that’s who he is and what he wants to continue to be. He throws to the open guy, and controls our offense, and gets guys in the right spots. That’s called being one of the best quarterbacks in the league. That’s what the job description requires.”
The Patriots Suffered Several Injuries vs. Dolphins
Hunter Henry was the major injury on offense for the Patriots. However, he was far from the only injury that the Patriots suffered in the win over the Dolphins.
On defense, both Gabe Jacas and Dre’Mont Jones went down. In the process, the Patriots lost arguably their two most important pass rushers off the edge. That also left Elijah Ponder as the only player healthy who the team lists at OLB.
Health updates are going to be coming throughout the week. However, the Patriots need to get healthy quickly if they want to make a run at the AFC East.
Patriots QB Drake Maye Shares Injury Update on TE Hunter Henry vs. Dolphins