Patriots Injury Could Help Kickstart Improvement In Key Area

The New England Patriots could be without several starters during Sunday’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England listed five players as non-participants on its injury report Wednesday — wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, running back Rhamondre Stevenson, linebacker Christian Elliss, defensive lineman Joshua Farmer and offensive lineman Garrett Bradbury.

Boutte and Stevenson lead the club in receiving and rushing touchdowns, respectively, so missing them will present more than a few issues. Elliss’ absence would force weaken an already thin group at linebacker. Farmer is a rotational piece who has played more than a quarter of the club’s defensive snaps.

Bradbury literally touches the ball on every play, calls the protections that keep the franchise quarterback off his backside and hasn’t missed a snap this season — but his absence could prove to be rather opportunistic.

Ben Brown, who would be the next man up along the offensive line, is better in the running game.

Point blank period.

I don’t need to tell you the importance of protecting Drake Maye, so let me make it abundantly clear that losing your starting center and being forced to rely on a backup isn’t good — there just happens to be a positive.

Brown (66.7) has the best run blocking grade among the club’s interior offensive lineman, according to PFF, sitting miles ahead of Bradbury (57.0), Mike Onwenu (60.7) and Jared Wilson (44.9) — who he filled in for during a Week 4 drubbing of the Carolina Panthers.

The Patriots, in case you were wondering, scored three rushing touchdowns in that game and went a perfect four-for-four scoring touchdowns in the red zone. I’d like to show you examples of how he contributed to that success, but it’s no longer allowed by the NFL.

New England needs to control the clock in order to win in Tampa Bay, so… all we’re saying is that specific aspect of the game might come easier with Brown playing instead of Bradbury.