After ruling out several players heading into the weekend, the Patriots made several roster moves ahead of Sunday's game vs. the Raiders at Gillette Stadium.
On Saturday, the Patriots placed WR Mack Hollins (calf) and FB Reggie Gilliam (ankle/knee) on injured reserve. Hollins and Gilliam will miss at least four games. Additionally, the Patriots activated special teams ace Brenden Schooler (back) from the non-football injury list, signed CB Kindle Vildor to the 53-man roster, and elevated LB K.J. Britt and S Elliott Davison from the practice squad for Sunday's game vs. the Raiders.
At wide receiver, the Patriots have now placed A.J. Brown (ankle) and Hollins on injured reserve four weeks into the season. Hollins was injured in the third quarter of last week's win over the Bills when he appeared to suffer a non-contact calf injury running a pass route. Although Hollins initially hoped he avoided a major injury, the Patriots may not want to risk making his calf worse by playing through it. So, the Pats current leading receiver will head to in-season injured reserve, where he can return in four games.
New England's available wide receivers are Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism III, and Kyle Williams. Chism replaced Hollins in the second half last week, catching a 19-yarder and the game-winning touchdown on the Patriots game-winning drive in Buffalo. Chism also threw several heady blocks, with his performance likely earning him more playing time. With Doubs as their other base receiver and Douglas in the slot, Chism will likely get the bulk of the work as the third receiver, with Williams mixing in as well.
Although placing Hollins on injured reserve is a big blow, Brown is eligible to return in Week 6. The star wideout suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Patriots season opener in Seattle and won't play this week. However, Brown has been spotted in the Patriots locker room this week as he begins ramping up to return. New England could get Brown back next week vs. the Jets, but with a Thursday Night Football game in Chicago the following week, the Patriots might wait until Week 7 to avoid a two-game in five-day stretch. Either way, Brown seems to be nearing a return, so reinforcements could be on the way.
Along with Hollins, FB Reggie Gilliam (ankle/knee) is also headed to injured reserve after adding an ankle injury to his nagging knee injury. Gilliam has been managing a knee injury since training camp and then suffered an ankle injury in Week 4. So far, the two-back formations with the free-agent addition haven't taken hold, possibly because of Gilliam's health. Without Gilliam, the Patriots could turn to TE Cameron Latu at fullback. Latu played 33 snaps out of the backfield in Philly last season and logged two snaps at fullback for the Patriots last week. Latu can be a lead blocker if Patriots OC Josh McDaniels wants to keep two-back formations on the call sheet.
Moving over to the defense, Vildor signed to the 53-man roster after the Patriots ruled out four cornerbacks heading into Week 5: Christian Gonzalez (shoulder), Carlton Davis III (neck), Karon Prunty (hamstring), and Channing Canada (hamstring). After spending training camp in Foxborough, Vildor was released on cutdown day, then re-signed to New England's practice squad. In Week 4, Vildor was elevated to the game-day roster to provide depth at the position, with Gonzalez and Canada out with injuries.
The 28-year-old played eight defensive snaps and on two special teams units in the win over the Bills. In his eight defensive snaps, Vildor allowed one catch for 22 yards to Bills WR Keon Coleman, who made a terrific tip-drill reception along the sideline. Vildor initially deflected the pass, but Coleman made a fantastic adjustment to catch the ricochet. As head coach Mike Vrabel noted earlier this week, it was an unlucky play that shouldn't be held against Vildor, who can be competitive in coverage as an outside cornerback.
After adding Vildor to the 53-man roster, the Patriots have three corners available for Sunday's game vs. the Raiders: Marcus Jones, Charles Woods, and Vildor. Obviously, New England is short-handed at the position, but a few factors are worth considering. First, the Raiders are also missing starting WR Jalen Nailor (concussion) while Vegas plays the fewest snaps with three receivers on the field in the NFL (19.4%).
With the Raiders being a tight-end-heavy offense, trade acquisition Jaylen Reed has been repping at "big" nickel since arriving in New England. Big nickel, or three-safety nickel, is a defensive grouping where a bigger-bodied defender, like a safety (Reed), plays in the slot rather than a corner. By playing three-safety nickel, defenses have more coverage flexibility than base defense while still adding size on the field. The Pats have played it on roughly 10% of their defensive snaps to match offense's heavy personnel groupings.
One would expect the Patriots to ride a three-safety nickel package vs. the Raiders, with Jones and Woods at outside corner while Reed plays in the slot. Vildor would then be the third corner to match the Raiders in three-receiver sets. All of this is a long-winded way of saying the Patriots have enough secondary flexibility to match the Raiders best weapons: All-Pro TE Brock Bowers, TE Michael Mayer, and WR Tre Tucker.
Next, All-Pro special teams ace Brenden Schooler will make his season debut after missing training camp and the first four weeks due to a back injury. Schooler was on the non-football injury list, which means his back injury happened away from the facility during the offseason. Schooler returns as an impact player in the kicking game for a unit that ranks 21st in special teams DVOA. Lastly, Britt and Davison are up from the practice squad, likely to provide special-teams depth. With players like Reed needing to play more on defense, the Patriots may have wanted to ease the burden on their reserve defenders.
After all the roster shuffling, the Patriots need to declare six players as inactive for Sunday's game. The Pats have already ruled out Gonzalez, Davis, Prunty, and Canada. With rookie Behren Morton as the emergency quarterback, New England will need to declare only one additional player as inactive for Week 5.
The short-handed Patriots will host the Raiders 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
