The New England Patriots bounced back from their week one loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a convincing 20-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in week two. Despite another mediocre performance from the offense, the Patriots defense looks just as staunch as it was last year on their Super Bowl run.
But an important piece of New England’s defensive line exited Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh with an apparent shoulder injury. Dre’Mont Jones, who the Patriots signed to a three-year deal during free agency in the offseason, left the game after New England’s strip sack of Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter.
Though Jones wasn’t the focal point of the play, in the chaos that ensued after the ball came out, Jones was rolled up on by a teammate. He left the game and was ruled out shortly after.
Vrabel Gives Update on Jones After Injury
Patriots’ head coach Mike Vrabel addressed Jones’ injury during his press conference Monday.
“I don’t know how he’s going to progress during the week, I know he wasn’t able to finish the game up,” Vrabel said. “He’ll do everything he can to be ready [for week three], and if he’s not, then we’ll have to have alternate plans.”
At face value, this doesn’t necessarily sound like a positive update, but it does indicate one important thing: Jones doesn’t seem to need to go on injured reserve.
Based on the way Vrabel answered the question, this injury looks like something that Jones may be able to work through rather quickly, and likely avoided any serious ailment.
Jones was very good in week one against Seattle, posting a sack and four QB hits in his Patriots debut. In fact, his sack of Sam Darnold was the play that injured the QB and forced him out of the game.
New England signed Jones with the expectation that he would be a key part of their pass rush. Jones has played over 100 NFL games and had registered 37.5 sacks heading into the season. He posted his career high seven sacks last season between stints with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.
Patriots Preparing For Matchup with Jaguars in Week Three
The Patriots schedule doesn’t get any easier the next couple weeks, as they’ll travel down to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars next Sunday before trekking back up north to face the Buffalo Bills on the road in week four.
With those two games coming up, Sunday’s game against the Steelers almost felt like a must win, especially after losing week one to Seattle. Jacksonville had a dominant win week one against the Cleveland Browns before falling Sunday to the Denver Broncos. The Jags are a legitimate Super Bowl contender, as are the Bills, making the next two weeks measuring stick games for New England.
The Patriots defense is solid across the board, but the offense needs to show much more against Jacksonville and Buffalo to prove that it can support another deep playoff run.
That starts with Drake Maye, who has thrown four interceptions and just one touchdown through two weeks. His decision making has been questionable at best, and he’ll need to do much better against two very good teams coming up.
Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Gives Positive Update on Dre’Mont Jones