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Patriots injury update: Defense gets boost with impact players at practice
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- Patriots injury update: Defense gets boost with impact players at practice
FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots’ defense saw the return of two starters in last weekend’s wild-card game. On Wednesday, the unit received more good news ahead of their AFC divisional matchup against the Houston Texans .
The biggest news for Mike Vrabel’s team was that Christian Gonzalez was at practice on Wednesday. The Pro Bowl cornerback suffered a concussion in Sunday’s win and entered this week in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
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Gonzalez was at practice donning a red non-contact jersey. That indicates that he’s in either step three or four of the league’s five-step protocol.
Gonzalez’s situation is reminiscent of TreVeyon Henderson . The rookie suffered a concussion in Baltimore , but was back to practice the next Wednesday and played the following Sunday.
The Patriots would love for that to be the case with Gonzalez.
The defense also saw the return of defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga . The run-stuffing defensive lineman suffered a foot injury in Week 16. He missed the final two games of the regular season and the Patriots’ wild-card win on Sunday.
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Tonga started eight out of 14 games played this season. He had 24 tackles, two quarterback hits, and two pass breakups. He played a big part in the Patriots’ stout run defense. Tonga also played fullback for the offense, leading the way for running backs in five games before his injury.
Both Gonzalez and Tonga were limited in practice.
Patriots injury report
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
T Morgan Moses - Knee
T Thayer Munford Jr. - Knee
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
CB Christian Gonzalez - Concussion Protocol
TE Hunter Henry - Knee
LB Anfernee Jennings - Knee
RB Terrell Jennings * - Concussion Protocol
LB Harold Landry - Knee
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DL Khyiris Tonga - Foot
FULL PARTICIPATION
CB Alex Austin * - Wrist
* denotes player currently on injured reserve.
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