The Patriots are en route to Central Florida, where they'll face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New England has elevated two players from the practice squad for Sunday's game.

On Saturday, the Patriots elevated RB D'Ernest Johnson and LB Darius Harris from the practice squad for Week 10. For Johnson, it's the second consecutive week that the veteran will get the nod as RB3 in New England's backfield behind rookie TreVeyon Henderson and RB Terrell Jennings. Harris is up for the second time this season to likely play a special teams role with LB Christian Elliss (hip) ruled out on the team's final injury report. On Friday, the Patriots also ruled out WR Kayshon Boutte (hamstring) and top RB Rhamondre Stevenson (toe).

At running back, the Patriots will likely have a similar backfield rotation as they did last week in their win over the Falcons. Although he played a role on special teams as a kick returner alongside WR Efton Chism III, Johnson didn't play an offensive snap in Week 9, with the Patriots leaning on Henderson and Jennings. Henderson played a season-high 51 snaps while handling a mix of early-down and all the pass-game assignments. As for Jennings, the first-year pro contributed some on early downs but primarily played in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

Given the success the duo had last week, one would expect that the Patriots will stick to the same formula in Tampa Bay. However, one potential pivot could be how New England handles the Bucs exotic blitzes, with Tampa Bay ranking sixth in blitz rate heading into Sunday (35%). Tampa Bay is an aggressive blitz-heavy defense, with head coach Todd Bowles drawing up pressures from all levels of the defense.

When it comes to picking up blitzes, there are two general schools of thought. One is to leave the running back in to pick up the blitz with equal blockers to rushers. In theory, doing so allows routes to develop downfield, enabling the quarterback to hunt big plays still and throw past the sticks on third down. Another way to counter the blitz is by having the backs run routes into areas vacated by the blitz, where the quarterback often throws "hot" when the defense brings more rushers than the offense has blockers. That strategy will lead to shorter passes, but you can get a defense to stop blitzing if the offense consistently beats the blitz by throwing hot.

Stevenson, who will miss his second straight game due to his toe injury, is the Patriots most consistent pass-protecting running back. Henderson has had some ups and downs in that regard, while Jennings hasn't done it much. As for Johnson, the seventh-year pro has ample experience picking up blitzes, with that being his primary role on his previous two teams. The Pats also leaned more on FB Jack Westover without Stevenson last week. If the rookie's inconsistencies in blitz pickup continue, Johnson or Westover could factor in there.

That said, Sunday's game could be one where using Henderson's speed to throw into the blitz could be beneficial. The Patriots might be able to get their screen game going this week, or target Henderson on routes into the flats, as the Bucs pull defenders out of coverage to blitz. This season, the Bucs are 29th in expected points added (EPA) on passes to running backs (+0.25). So, this could be a big week for Henderson to catch passes out of the backfield.

Moving over to the defense and special teams, Harris is up for the second time, likely to fill Elliss's roles on special teams. Elliss is fifth on the team in special teams snaps this season (114), while playing regularly on three different special teams units. In Week 4, Harris was active with the Patriots shorthanded at linebacker and played 16 special-teams snaps on four different units. Based on his usage earlier this season, Harris will likely fill in for Elliss in the kicking game.

New England will try to improve to 5-0 on the road when they visit Raymond James Stadium to play the Bucs in Tampa Bay on Sunday. It would be just the seventh time in franchise history that New England opened its road slate with five straight wins, while the Patriots and Seahawks are the only two teams in the NFL who have yet to lose a road game this season.

The Patriots visit the Buccaneers with kickoff at 1 p.m. ET in Tampa Bay on Sunday.

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