Foxborough, MA – The Patriots are looking to extend their winning streak to six games when they host the Atlanta Falcons, and the game-day roster is set for Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium.

New England's game-day inactives are RB Rhamondre Stevenson (toe), S John Saunders Jr., DT Eric Gregory, G Ceadan Wallace, OLB Caleb Murphy, and QB Tommy DeVito is the emergency third quarterback. The Falcons inactives are CB Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring), DL Zach Harrison (knee), RB Nathan Carter, OT Michael Jerrell, WR Casey Washington, and DL Ta'Quon Graham. Atlanta's three questionable players are all active: S Jessie Bates III (knee), EDGE Jalon Walker (groin), and EDGE Leonard Floyd (hamstring).

On Friday, the Patriots ruled out Stevenson due to his toe injury, which held him out of all three practices this week. When asked on Friday, head coach Mike Vrabel didn't offer a projected timeline for Stevenson's return to play. It's also unclear when exactly the Pats lead-back hurt his toe, as Stevenson was on the field late in the fourth quarter of last week's win vs. the Browns, appearing on the "hands" team for an onside kick with 4:06 left in the game. Stevenson didn't play on New England's final possession, but most chalked that up to the Patriots having a 19-point lead in the closing minutes of a blowout victory over Cleveland.

With their starting running back inactive, the Patriots elevated veteran D'Ernest Johnson from the practice squad on Saturday. Johnson is active along with projected starter TreVeyon Henderson and first-year pro Terrell Jennings. After being elevated for three consecutive weeks from the practice squad following a season-ending injury to RB Antonio Gibson (knee), Jennings was officially signed to the 53-man roster earlier this week. Henderson, a second-round rookie, is expected to be the lead-back in New England's backfield this week, but Jennings could get some early-down carries while Johnson could play on third down and special teams.

Although it was considered a strength of Henderson's as a draft prospect, Stevenson is the Patriots most reliable pass-blocking back. Henderson has improved over the last two weeks, allowing zero pressures on three pass-blocking reps, while Johnson has been a third-down contributor on his last two teams. In Week 7, Johnson was active for the Cardinals, playing 13 of his 14 snaps as a third-down back. Last season, the seventh-year pro played 80% of his snaps in the passing game for the Jaguars. Most probably remember him as a volume runner, but Johnson has been more of a sub-package back in this chapter of his career.

The other area Johnson could contribute is on kick returns, with 33 career returns in his first six seasons. Last week, Henderson and Jennings returned kicks, but it might be too risky to have the second-round rookie back there until Stevenson is healthy. Although the veteran running back has experience returning kicks, WR Efton Chism III is active for the third time this season. In his previous two appearances, Chism has been New England's primary kick returner.

QB Drake Maye's Supporting Cast

OL - LT Campbell, LG Wilson, C Bradbury, RG Onwenu, RT Moses

WR - Diggs, Boutte, Hollins, Douglas, Williams, Chism

TE - Henry, Hooper, Westover (FB)

RB - Henderson, Jennings, Johnson

Although the Patriots are shorthanded at running back without Stevenson, the rest of QB Drake Maye's supporting cast is healthy. New England will face the top-ranked pass defense in the NFL in the Falcons, but Atlanta only ranks 24th in expected points added vs. the run (-0.02). Given that he's building an MVP resume, nobody is saying Maye can't find completions vs. a stingy Falcons defense, but the run game might be effective as well. Along the offensive line, the Pats project to start the same five for the eighth time in nine games, so there is continuity up front for Henderson and company to have a big game on the ground.

Moving over to the defense, the big question mark for the Patriots was how they'd manage their safety depth after trading S Kyle Dugger to the Steelers. Despite dealing Dugger to Pittsburgh earlier this week, New England didn't elevate any safeties from the practice squad for Sunday's game (S Richie Grant was elevated in Week 8 with Dugger inactive). Dugger was New England's third safety, starting for Jaylinn Hawkins in two games and playing in three-safety packages while having a role on special teams. Overall, Dugger played on 43.8% of the Patriots defensive and special teams snaps this season.

Earlier this week, the Patriots added to their safety depth by signing undrafted rookie John Saunders Jr. off the Dolphins practice squad. However, Saunders Jr. is inactive after only practicing twice with the Patriots this week. The Patriots could lean on second-year DB Dell Pettus more following the Dugger trade. Pettus was getting reps as a box safety in a similar role as Dugger in training camp, while the second-year pro has already been a regular on special teams (74.6% of snaps). Pettus played about a third of the defensive snaps during his rookie season, showing promise as a physical tackler and heady short-zone defender.

Third-year pro Marte Mapu is technically listed as a linebacker, but Mapu has played some safety and has experience covering tight ends. Last week, Mapu allowed a 19-yard completion to Browns TE Harold Fannin Jr. and didn't play on defense again. New England has struggled covering tight ends, allowing the fifth-most receiving yards per game to tight ends this season (67.9 YPG). Up next is Falcons Pro Bowler Kyle Pitts, who ranks eighth among tight ends in receiving yards this season (344 yards). Given their struggles with covering tight ends, the Patriots ability to limit Pitts will be a storyline to watch in Sunday's game.

The other trade the Patriots made this week was sending former second-rounder Keion White to the 49ers. Last week, White was a healthy scratch vs. the Browns, so we already have an idea of how the Pats will rotate behind starting edge-rushers Harold Landry III and K'Lavon Chaisson. Landry (38 snaps) and Chaisson (36 snaps) played the most of the snaps at outside linebacker, but OLB Anfernee Jennings (14 snaps) was the next man up, while undrafted rookie Elijah Ponder (eight snaps) and LB Jahlani Tavai (five snaps) were also in the mix.

New England plays Atlanta at home for the first time since the 2017 season, where the Patriots will try to extend their winning streak to six games, their longest winning streak since 2021. From this perspective, the keys to victory are limiting Pitts and RB Bijan Robinson in the passing game, with the Pats defense struggling at times to cover tight ends and running backs. Offensively, the Falcons have been susceptible to downhill runs, while Atlanta's stingy pass defense is missing some key pieces that Maye and company can take advantage of this week.

The Patriots host the Falcons with kickoff at 1 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer