The reigning AFC champion New England Patriots face a difficult assignment if they want to extend their winning streak to four games, traveling to Chicago to face the 3-2 Bears on the short week that comes with an appearance on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football .
The Patriots enter the game with an injury report totaling 17 players, five of whom have already been ruled out for the Thursday clash in Chicago.
Just hours ahead of kickoff at Soldier Field, the Patriots made another tough announcement, the one about injured offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker.
The Patriots placed their starting left guard on injured reserve Thursday, and a hamstring injury will cost him at least four games, according to the Patriots.com announcement.
He can return this season. Vera-Tucker misses Weeks 7 through 10 and becomes eligible again in Week 12, after New England's Week 11 bye, according to NBC Sports .
The injury happened late in the second quarter of New England's 26-19 Week 6 win over the New York Jets on Oct. 18. Vera-Tucker flexed his leg after a run play, finished the drive and went to the medical tent. The Patriots first listed him as questionable to return, then ruled him out for the rest of the game, according to Pats Pulpit's report .
He did not practice during the short week, and the Patriots ruled him out for the Chicago Bears game, according to ESPN . New England enters the matchup at 4-2, with wins over the Buffalo Bills , Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets in their last three games.
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Vera-Tucker, 27, was born June 17, 1999, in Oakland, California. The 6-foot-4, 308-pound guard played at Bishop O'Dowd High School before heading to USC, where he won the Morris Trophy as the Pac-12's top offensive lineman in 2020, according to a Patriots.com profile .
The Jets selected him 14th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He started all 16 games at left guard as a rookie and earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors, according to ESPN's free-agency story .
He tore a triceps in 2022 and missed the rest of the season after seven games. A torn Achilles limited him to five games in 2023, and a torn left triceps in practice wiped out all of 2025. Vera-Tucker entered this season having played 43 of a possible 85 games.
New England signed him as an unrestricted free agent on March 12 to a three-year, $42 million contract with $21 million guaranteed and significant per-game roster bonuses built in as injury protection, according to Over the Cap .
The Patriots wanted to upgrade left guard and steady the line in front of quarterback Drake Maye after their Super Bowl loss last season. The plan placed Vera-Tucker between left tackle Will Campbell and center Jared Wilson , according to The Athletic .
Vera-Tucker started the first five games at left guard and played more than 340 offensive snaps. He posted an overall grade of 68.2 from Pro Football Focus, ranking 28th among qualifying guards, along with a 71.0 pass-blocking grade (22nd) and a 63.4 run-blocking grade (36th). He allowed 11 pressures, including one sack and three hits, and committed two penalties, according to Pro Football Focus data .
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Walter Rouse , acquired in an Aug. 30 trade with the Minnesota Vikings , is expected to start at left guard. It will be his first career NFL start .
Matt Pryor , signed off the Arizona Cardinals ' practice squad Oct. 1, is expected to start at right guard because Ben Brown is out with a knee injury. New England also elevated Xavier Newman-Johnson, a lineman with guard and center experience, and linebacker Benton Whitley from the practice squad, according to NBC Sports .
Mike Onwenu and Greg Van Roten are already on injured reserve, and right tackle Morgan Moses has dealt with a foot and ankle issue that left him questionable, according to NESN's latest Patriots injury report .
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