The Patriots are heading to Miami for Sunday's AFC East matchup and have downgraded star WR A.J. Brown (ankle/knee) and RB TreVeyon Henderson (illness) to out en route to South Beach on Saturday.
After listing him as questionable on the final injury report, Brown and Henderson didn't travel with the team to Miami and won't play vs. the Dolphins on Sunday. While working his way back from a high-ankle sprain, Brown couldn't finish Wednesday's practice because of a knee "flare-up," which kept him out of the final two sessions on Thursday and Friday. Henderson also missed the last two practices this week with an illness.
With only three healthy wide receivers and two running backs, the Patriots signed RB Lan Larison to their open spot on the 53-man roster and elevated WR Ryan Miller from the practice squad. Larison will take Henderson's game-day roster spot for the second time this season, with the former undrafted rookie playing in Week 1 as well, while Miller is set to make his Patriots debut on Sunday.
Although the star wideout's future status is a major storyline, Brown won't be available for Sunday's game vs. the Dolphins, so let's focus on who the Patriots will have at wide receiver. New England has three healthy receivers on its 53-man roster: DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism III, and Kyle Williams. The Pats will also likely lean heavily on tight ends Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon as pass-catchers for QB Drake Maye.
Despite having two productive tight ends, New England has only played 31.8% of its offensive snaps with two-plus tight ends on the field (22nd in the NFL). One would expect the Patriots to play more snaps with Henry and Raridon on the field together to get through the game while being shorthanded at wide receiver, with Williams (outside X), Chism (Z), and Douglas (slot) as their top three receivers in Sunday's game.
The Patriots offense will be down Brown (ankle/knee), Romeo Doubs (IR, shoulder) and Mack Hollins (IR, calf) on Sunday. Plus, New England will be shorthanded at running back with Henderson missing Sunday's game. The Pats speedy running back will miss his second game this season after an ankle injury kept him out of the season opener. This season, Henderson is averaging just 3.9 yards per rush and has only one 15-plus-yard run on 52 carries, after logging 11 explosive runs in his rookie season.
Over the last several weeks, Rhamondre Stevenson has been the Patriots lead back, playing 64.8% of the offensive snaps in the last four games. In Week 7, Stevenson played 68% of the snaps vs. the Bears. His heavy workload will likely continue, while RB Corey Kiner will likely see his snap count increase, and Larison could play some on offense and as a kickoff returner. In Week 1, New England had the same running back trio and here's how it divided up the snaps: Stevenson (57, 85.1%), Kiner (8, 11.9%), Larison (2, 3%).
Another thought is to take Kiner and Williams off kickoff returns because of the injury risk, with the duo serving as the Patriots primary kickoff returners for most of the season. Kiner and Williams are now in line to play much larger roles on offense, which could make it too risky to put them in harm's way on kickoff returns. The question is who would replace Williams on kickoff returns on Sunday?
Larison is a strong candidate to return kickoffs after he was a primary returner in the Patriots season opener. As for Miller, the third-year pro has some NFL experience both as a receiver (17 catches, 254 yards, 4 TDs) and on special teams. Although he doesn't have return experience, Miller was a core special teamer at his last two stops with the Dolphins and Bucs. Miller could play on multiple kick coverage units while providing depth as the Patriots fourth active wideout in Sunday's game.
Lastly, New England also downgraded second-year OT Marcus Bryant (ankle) to out as the team is not activating Bryant off injured reserve this week. After beginning his 21-day practice window on Oct. 14, the Patriots have until Nov. 4 to activate Bryant, or he'll miss the rest of the season. The Pats used one of their eight injured reserve designations to bring back Bryant this season on cutdown day in late August, but they still haven't activated him to the 53-man roster.
From a numbers standpoint, the Patriots 53-man roster is now full after signing Larison while Miller's elevation brings them to 54 players. With Brown and Henderson already ruled out, New England will need four more inactives 90 minutes before kickoff, with rookie Behren Morton likely taking up one of those inactive spots as the emergency third quarterback.
New England's offense will be shorthanded in Miami without three of its top wide receivers: Brown, Doubs, and Hollins. Still, Maye can elevate his supporting cast against a Dolphins pass defense that ranks last in pass EPA (+0.298), passer rating allowed (116.8), and completion percentage allowed (76.6%). Although it's never ideal to be down three key contributors, the Patriots should be able to weather the storm.
The Patriots visit the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium with kickoff at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday.
