Jacksonville, Fla. â The Patriots are preparing for Sunday's matchup vs. the Jaguars at EverBank Stadium with some unfortunate pre-game injury news for New England.
Despite making the trip to Jacksonville, starting S Craig Woodson (shoulder) and TE Eli Raridon (thigh) are officially inactive after being listed as questionable for Week 3. Raridon and Woodson join starting OLB Dre'Mont Jones (shoulder) as three key Patriots who won't suit up on Sunday. The Patriots game-day inactives are OLB Dre'Mont Jones (shoulder), S Craig Woodson (shoulder), TE Eli Raridon (thigh), OT Dametrious Crownover, DT Leonard Taylor III, and Behren Morton is the emergency third quarterback.
Starting with the Patriots offense, Raridon initially practiced this week in a limited capacity on Wednesday after injuring his thigh in last week's win over the Steelers. However, the rookie tight end then sat out the final two practices on Thursday and Friday, and although he made the trip down to Jacksonville, Raridon won't play on Sunday. Without the rookie tight end, New England loses a valuable mismatch weapon in the passing game. Last week, the Pats threw six times for 76 yards when the Steelers matched their two-tight-end sets in base defense (12.7 YPA).
Pittsburgh felt compelled to match New England's heavy personnel with base defense because of Raridon's blocking ability, which created mismatches for the Pats tight ends against the Steelers linebackers. For example, Raridon's 30-yard catch came when he beat Steelers LB Payton Wilson on a high corner route for an explosive play. Without Raridon, the Pats will lean more on tight ends Cameron Latu and undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin this week. Latu played 14 snaps in a blocking role when Raridon left the game last week while Arkin played some on special teams in the season opener before being a healthy scratch in Week 2.
Ultimately, the Patriots still have ways to get big personnel on the field with FB Reggie Gilliam and starting TE Hunter Henry also in the mix. Plus, Arkin and Latu are decent blockers in the run game, and they could use an extra offensive lineman as a jumbo tight end in specific packages. However, they won't have Raridon's two-way upside as a receiver and blocker, which would've been useful against a Jags defense that typically wants to play in lighter nickel and dime packages.
With the Patriots having the same group of wide receivers and running backs as last week, another noteworthy development on offense is veteran Greg Van Roten inserting into the starting lineup for injured RG Mike Onwenu (ankle, IR). Van Roten played the final 39 snaps last week when Onwenu left last Sunday's win with a serious ankle injury. The 35-year-old has plenty of NFL experience, starting every game for the Raiders and Giants over the last two seasons, including 17 starts in OC Josh McDaniels's offense in Vegas in 2024.
QB Drake Maye's Supporting Cast vs. Jaguars
OL - LT Campbell, LG Vera-Tucker, C Wilson, RG Van Roten, RT Moses
WR - Doubs, Hollins, Douglas, Williams, Chism
TE/FB - Henry, Latu, Arkin, Gilliam (FB)
RB - Stevenson, Henderson, Kiner
Last week, Van Roten was rusty when he came into the game as an injury replacement, allowing two quarterback pressures. Hopefully, a full practice week at right guard, the spot he mostly played in for the Giants last season, along with his familiarity with McDaniels's system and RT Morgan Moses (played together with the Jets), will help Van Roten settle into a larger role.
Moving over to the defense, the Patriots will also be without starting S Craig Woodson (shoulder) and OLB Dre'Mont Jones (shoulder) this week. Like Raridon, Woodson made the trip to Jacksonville with the team, but won't play vs. the Jags due to an injury that caused him to exit last week's win in the third quarter. Woodson was having a strong performance before leaving the game, stuffing a run and screen pass while also forcing an incompletion.
The Patriots elevated S Mike Brown from the practice squad for extra depth while captain Kevin Byard III and trade acquisition Jaylen Reed are also available. The expectation is that Byard and Reed will start at safety for the Patriots but the question is how New England will match Jacksonville's two-tight-end sets without Woodson. The Jaguars run the third-highest rate of two-tight-end sets in the NFL (31.5%), and it's a big part of their under-center-heavy offense. Brown, who could also replace S Dell Pettus (ankle, IR) on special teams, auditioned for the third safety role in camp, but the Patriots initially went in a different direction.
Brown could play as the third safety in the Patriots "big" nickel packages, which they use over 20% of the time, after the veteran got reps there in camp, but he struggled in pass coverage, which led to Pettus remaining in the mix and the Reed trade. New England could also play more base defense against the Jags heavy personnel. It'll be interesting to see how the Patriots match the Jaguars big personnel groupings with two safeties out (Pettus, Woodson).
New England is also thin on the edge without Jones and rookie Quintayvious Hutchins (knee), who was placed on injured reserve earlier this week. The Patriots available edge rushers are starter Elijah Ponder, second-rounder Gabe Jacas, and recently signed Jose Ramirez, who was added to the 53-man roster this week. The good news is that Jacas and Ponder stuffed the stat sheet last week, tallying a combined seven total pressures while Ponder recovered a fumble for a touchdown and Jacas had an interception. The young duo should be able to do the job on Sunday, but depth in the Florida heat could be an issue.
On a positive note, the Patriots are whole again at cornerback with starter Carlton Davis III returning after a one-week absence. Davis missed last week's win over the Steelers with a neck injury, but is back in the lineup where he's expected to play his usual spot opposite All-Pro CB Christian Gonzalez with NCB Marcus Jones in the slot. The Jags have a legit three-receiver package of Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr., and old friend Jakobi Meyers, making the Pats corner trio versus the Jags receiver trio a marquee matchup.
Washington plays roughly 50 percent of his snaps in the slot while mostly running in-breakers between the numbers. Given his heavy slot usage, it would make sense for Jones to cover Washington, but Gonzalez may draw the matchup in key passing situations given that Washington's target share trails on Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In other words, Washington is QB Trevor Lawrence's go-to guy, so the Pats could go best-on-best. Gonzalez will probably see a lot of Thomas Jr. as well while Davis covers Meyers.
The Patriots game-day roster is now set for Sunday's 1 p.m. ET kickoff in Jacksonville.
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