The Patriots are readying for a divisional showdown against the Bills on Sunday, where a win will clinch the AFC East for New England.
On Saturday, the Patriots made several transactions to finalize their Week 15 roster. New England signed RB D'Ernest Johnson to the active roster and elevated DL Leonard Taylor III from the practice squad, while placing RB Terrell Jennings (concussion) on injured reserve to make room for Johnson on the 53-man roster.
At running back, Jennings suffered a concussion in the Patriots win vs. the Giants in Week 13. Jennings will miss at least the next four games, meaning his regular season is over, but Jennings could return for the playoffs. From a logistics standpoint, Johnson was out of standard elevations after being elevated three times earlier this season. Therefore, New England needed to sign the veteran to the active roster to make him available for Sunday's game. To make room, Jennings was placed on injured reserve.
As for Johnson's role, the 29-year-old will serve as the third running back behind top backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. Offensively, Jennings was playing a small role with some short-yardage carries, which isn't necessarily Johnson's game. Instead, if he does play on offense, it could be more in the passing game. Johnson will also be able to take over Jennings' role on kickoff return and other special teams units. Jennings played on three different return units in Week 13, while also returning kickoffs alongside rookie WR Kyle Williams. In Weeks 9-10, Johnson returned kickoffs, so he could do that again with Williams on Sunday.
Besides some tinkering with their running back depth, the Patriots offense is mostly healthy heading into a huge game against the Bills, with rookie Jared Wilson expected to return at left guard after a one-game absence. Wilson doesn't have an injury designation after practicing at a full capacity this week, so he'll likely be reinserted into the starting lineup next to LT Vederian Lowe on the left side of New England's offensive line.
Moving over to the defense, the Patriots are also expecting nose tackle Khyiris Tonga to return from a chest injury this week. Despite his return, New England still elevated DL Leonard Taylor III from the practice squad. Previously, the Patriots had elevated DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr. to a reserve role on the defensive line and special teams. However, Pharms has already used two of his three standard elevations, so it's possible the team wanted to preserve his final elevation for later in the season. Pharms has had a game-day role since standout DT Milton Williams went on injured reserve due to his ankle injury in Week 10. Taylor could now fill that role as depth on the defensive line this week.
Overall, the Patriots active roster is in good shape heading into Sunday's game vs. the Bills. With a late bye last week, it allowed for banged-up contributors such as Tonga, Wilson, and special-teams ace Brenden Schooler to get healthy. The only question mark from a health perspective is the status of captain Robert Spillane, who is officially questionable due to a foot injury. From this perspective, it's a good sign for Spillane's availability that the Patriots didn't elevate a linebacker from the practice squad. New England will need to declare six players inactive, so we'll find out if Spillane will give it a go when we see the full list of inactives prior to kickoff.
The Patriots host the Bills with kickoff at 1 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
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