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Patriots Injury Report Piles Up as Maye Says Shoulder's Fine Before Bills

Drake Maye insists his arm is fine, but the Patriots' offensive line keeps losing bodies heading into a trip to Buffalo.

By Hub Sports Report ·
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Listen, a quarterback telling you his shoulder is fine two weeks after it becomes a storyline is like a kid telling you his skate laces are fine right before he blows a tire in the third period. Drake Maye said Wednesday the shoulder isn't affecting his throwing, and that the real issue is cutting down on the decisions that have New England sitting at 1-2, per ESPN. Fair enough, kid. But a healthy arm doesn't fix turnovers. Only better reads do.

Trenches keep thinning out

The protection in front of Maye took another hit this week. The Patriots placed guard Greg Van Roten on injured reserve with a thigh injury, per ESPN. You don't lose a starting guard and call it a shrug-it-off situation — that's a hole in your structure, and holes in your structure show up as hits on your quarterback. On the other side of the ledger, Mike Reiss reported that Matt Pryor is set to join the Patriots offense, which at least gives the staff another body to plug in up front. Whether he's ready to help right away is the kind of thing you find out the hard way, in live reps, not in a highlight clip.

Secondary file: a name to watch

Cornerback Christian Gonzalez did not practice Wednesday, and his status is in question as the Patriots get ready for Buffalo, per Mike Reiss. No further word on what's behind it, so there's nothing to grade here yet — just a name to circle as the week goes on.

Up next: Buffalo

Per ESPN's preview of the matchup, the Patriots head to Buffalo to face Josh Allen and a Bills team that's looking to clean up its own sloppy play. New England's turnover trouble is a central thread in that preview, and it lines up with exactly what Maye himself flagged this week. You don't beat a team like Buffalo on the road by handing them short fields. That's not scheme, that's discipline — and right now it's the Patriots' biggest problem, bigger than any one shoulder.

Murph's grade on the week: Incomplete, leaning ugly. A line that's losing starters, a quarterback who needs to stop giving the ball away, and a secondary piece on the injury report with the kickoff to Buffalo bearing down. Fix the turnovers first. Everything else is noise until that happens.

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