Injury report for New England Patriots – NFL News Update
The overall situation for New England Patriots turns out to be pretty well with none of its players having missed practice except for Tom Brady, yet the absence of the star quarterback just a few days before the next game is a source of concern.
Patriots had both, good and bad news to hear on Wednesday, which was the first day of practice for the AFC championship game.
Their tight end, Aaron Hernandez finally made a return to practice after having sustained a head injury during last Saturday’s game against the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter of the game.
The injury made him miss the remainder of the game.
The injury to Patriots' leading rusher, who was the first to score a touchdown in that game, came as a shock to Patriots, all geared up to make it to the Super Bowl this year.
Hernandez caught four passes for 55 yards before leaving the field. He had been intent on making it back to the team since day 1 as he kept insisting that he was okay while being determined to return to the field.
"I feel great. Ready to play." Hernandez said after Wednesday’s practice.
On the other hand the bad news for the Patriots turned out to be their quarterback missing out practice.
Brady was in trouble long before since playing against the Miami Dolphins. That game had resulted in Brady having injured his left shoulder but that did not made him miss out any games. The injury that has not been the topic of discussion so far by the Patriots
management seems to be taking its toll on the player and appears to be the reason why he was missing on Wednesday.
No sign of stress had been evident when he played the Broncos against whom he threw six touchdowns, a record in National Football League (NFL). What is important to note is that Brady had his name removed from the injury report just a couple of days before
the AFC divisional playoff game which is indicative of the fact that the injury was proving to be nagging him.
Though none other Patriots’ players missed out practice, yet there were 12 players limited in practice.
Deion Branch, Brandon Spikes, Logan Mankins, Wes Welker, and Patrick Chung all ailing with knee problems were limited in practice. So were Marcus Cannon and Kyle Love who are suffering with ankle problems. While Rob Ninkovich with a hip injury, Tracy White
with an abdomen injury and Dane Fletcher with an injury to his thumb remained limited at practice.
Also James Ihedigbo with a shoulder injury and Sebastian Vollmer with a foot injury practiced on a limited basis.
The Patriots are currently preparing to take on the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday and the injury to Brady may turn out to be a costly one.
However, Coach Bill Belichick appeared optimistic saying that the players were trying to make a recovery.
"We'll see how everybody is today going out there. I think everybody is today better than they were yesterday, yesterday better than they were Monday. The guys that are banged up are all working hard to get treatment and trying to get back out there. We'll
just have to see how it goes." Belichick said.
The Patriots have won nine straight games and look strong contenders of reaching the playoffs.
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