Tight end Jonnu Smith's hip injury, which cropped up during Thursday's practice and limited him thereafter, won't keep him from dressing for the Jets game. In fact, the team appears so confident that he's okay to play that the Patriots chose to deactivate second-year tight end Devin Asiasi for the second consecutive week. Asiasi remains a healthy scratch (not listed on the injury report).
Perhaps we'll also see more of linebacker Josh Uche today against the Jets, with Kyle Van Noy nursing a mysterious throat ailment that kept him out of practice all week. Uche only played 15 snaps in the opener against Miami, compared to Van Noy's 35.
Elsewhere, in case you missed it last evening, we broke down the various offensive line iterations that we could see for New England today after the Patriots downgraded starting right tackle Trent Brown (calf). One of those options was for third-year player Yodny Cajuste to make his NFL debut in Brown's place. That remains an possibility, as Cajuste, who was inactive with a hamstring issue last week, will be active versus New York today.
After fumbling during his NFL debut a week ago, rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson is inactive today, meaning veteran J.J. Taylor, who was among the healthy scratches last week, is available in the running back committee today.
The last two deactivated Patriots were also inactive in Week : rookie pass rusher Ronnie Perkins (shoulder) and rookie cornerback Shaun Wade (healthy scratch).
On the opposite sideline, New York suffered several injuries in its Week 1 trip to Carolina. As a result, a number of starters are out for this game, meaning their backups will have to step up for them. WR Jamison Crowder, fresh off the COVID list, won't play today, either, but not because of the illness. He suffered a groin issue during practice this past week. The Jets have several other viable receivers, though, so, Crowder's absence shouldn't be too much of an issue for them at that spot.
