FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) – It’s a quick turnaround for the Patriots, who are playing Thursday night on the road against the Chicago Bears. The Patriots are battling a slew of injuries at every position, but players say their “next man up” mentality is what’s keeping them performing at a high level.
At times this season, entire different position groups of the Patriots have been decimated by injuries, including cornerbacks and wide recievers. Star cornerback Christian Gonzalez and wide receiver AJ Brown both missed several weeks with injuries. With their return in week six, came another round of injuries to several other key players.
Wide Receiver Romeo Doubs was placed on Injured Reserve Monday afternoon with a shoulder injury, and following Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, the Patriots are down at least three starters and one backup in their offensive line group.
Despite all of the injuries, the Patriots have won three straight games, and are looking to carry that momentum into Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
“That’s probably something that we’ve always talked about is trying to be in the mental prep and the physical recovery,” Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel said. “There’s only so much that you can do physically here over the next couple of days, and it’s got to be done mentally, but also the physical recovery that you have to put in, and know by Thursday night you’ll feel good.”
The all-hands-on-deck mentality will be useful against an explosive Bears offense, bolstered by Quarterback Caleb Williams.
“In the NFL, you’re going to battle injuries week in and week out,” said Patriots Safety Craig Woodson. “You know, it sucks to see people go down, and hope they heal up and get back as soon as they can, but it’s always next man up, and I think that everybody that we have on the roster – I think we have the trust and anybody can go out there and do the job.”
Backups have continued to step up across the board, helping the team to a 4-2 record, including two divisional wins against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets.
“It sucks that our guys are getting banged up like that, but it’s the nature of football. It just goes to show what type of team we are. We got guys who were low on the depth chart, like me, and a couple of the linemen stepping up, just doing our job as if we were the starters. That’s just our team atmosphere,” said Patriots Runningback Corey Kiner.
The Patriots and Bears kick off in Chicago Thursday night at 8:15 p.m.
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