Craig Woodson and Eli Raridon will sit out today’s New England Patriots game at Jacksonville, a double absence hitting both sides of the ball, the Patriots announced just over an hour before their game against the Jaguars.
New England, already struggling with injuries to A.J. Brown and Mike Onwenu, now faces a shorthanded safety room and a green tight end group without its top reserves.
Woodson (shoulder) and Raridon (thigh) each carried a questionable tag into the weekend, made the trip to Jacksonville anyway, according to Patriots.com‘s Evan Lazar, and were downgraded when New England released its inactive list Sunday morning ahead of a 1 p.m. EDT kickoff at EverBank Stadium.
New England also ruled out Dre’Mont Jones (shoulder), Dametrious Crownover, Leonard Taylor and Behren Morton. Jacksonville’s only notable absence is Albert Regis, doubtful all week with an elbow injury.
New England Patriots Defense Feels Craig Woodson’s Shoulder Injury
Woodson left last Sunday’s 20-3 win over Pittsburgh in the third quarter, hurting his shoulder in a collision while tackling running back Rico Dowdle. He’d already stuffed a run, blown up a screen and forced an incompletion in coverage, finishing with 46 snaps and seven tackles before New England ruled him out for good. He missed practice twice with a shoulder injury, according to RotoWire, then upgraded to a limited practice Friday, briefly raising hope he’d suit up Sunday.
The 25-year-old, born Feb. 20, 2001, in Nashville, started 15 of 17 rookie games, according to Pro Football Reference, finishing with 79 tackles, then led the team with 10 tackles in New England’s Super Bowl LX loss to Seattle. A fourth-round pick in 2025, he has started both games this season, adding 12 more tackles.
The absence hurts because New England already placed Dell Pettus on injured reserve with an ankle injury this week. Jaylen Reed, acquired in the Kayshon Boutte trade, and call-up Mike Brown now split snaps next to captain Kevin Byard, a step down in size against a Jaguars offense that plays two-tight-end sets more than all but one team in the league.
Eli Raridon’s Thigh Injury Shrinks Offense
Raridon’s night against Pittsburgh ended in the first half after just 10 snaps that included a 30-yard catch, springing free on linebacker Payton Wilson out of a two-tight-end look. He was limited in Wednesday’s practice, then sat out the final two practices, according to RotoWire, and still traveled to Jacksonville before their questionable designations turned into Sunday inactives.
Elijah Daniel Raridon, 22, was born Feb. 12, 2004, in Mason City, Iowa, the son of Scott Raridon Jr., whose own career at Notre Dame, according to The Boston Globe, predated his son’s arrival there by two decades. Two torn right ACLs didn’t stop New England from taking the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder in the third round, No. 95 overall. He hauled in New England’s first touchdown, according to Sporting News, of the season on a two-yard score from Drake Maye at Seattle.
Without Raridon, the No. 2 tight end job falls to Cameron Latu and undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin. Expect more three-receiver sets, a heavier workload for Hunter Henry, and extra slot snaps for DeMario Douglas, with the quieter cost showing up in edge run-blocking.
Jacksonville opened as a home favorite, and a 61 percent win probability, according to Dimers, projects a 24-21 final. New England has allowed the fewest points in the league, according to NBC Sports Boston, through two weeks, a defense that could make this closer than the shorthanded roster suggests.
| NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — INACTIVES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Patriots at Jaguars | ||
| # | Player | Pos |
| 4 | Craig Woodson | SS |
| 5 | Dre’Mont Jones | OLB |
| 68 | Dametrious Crownover | T |
| 82 | Eli Raridon | TE |
| 93 | Leonard Taylor | DT |
| 15 | Behren Morton | QB (3rd) |
| Inactives list, Patriots at Jaguars. | ||
Patriots Announce Decisions on 2 Key Players Just an Hour Before Jaguars Game