Foxborough, MA – The Patriots game-day roster is set for Sunday's home contest vs. the Rams at Gillette Stadium, and reinforcements have arrived for New England's defense.
The Patriots inactives are WR K.J. Osborn, S Marte Mapu (neck), OLB Ochaun Mathis, G Tyrese Robinson, DL Deatrich Wise (foot), DT Jaquelin Roy (neck), and rookie Joe Milton is the emergency third quarterback. Los Anegles's inactives are QB Stetson Bennett, CB Charles Woods, RB Cody Schrader, OL Dylan Mcmahon, OL Joe Noteboom, OL Rob Havenstein, and NT Neville Gallimore.
Starting with the defense, stud DT Christian Barmore is officially active after being activated off the non-football illness list on Saturday. The Patriots will also get captain Kyle Dugger back this week, two impact defenders the team was planning on having major roles this season. Six of the 10 players listed as questionable on the Patriots final injury report are active: Barmore, Dugger, Takitaki, Elliss, Ekuale, and Lowe.
Barmore will make his season debut with only one practice under his belt. The Pats defensive tackle returned to practice for the first time since being diagnosed with blood clots this past week, participating in Thursday's session before sitting out Friday's practice as a part of a ramp-up process. Back in July, the 25-year-old was diagnosed with blood clots in his calf, according to reports. Team doctors caught the clotting early on, keeping the door open for Barmore to return this season.
Although he's active, it's unrealistic for Barmore to play a significant amount of snaps in his first game since last January. Really, his first fully padded football activity since the 2023 season ended. Instead, the expectation is that Barmroe will play sparingly to get his feet wet on Sunday. On Friday, head coach Jerod Mayo set the bar low in terms of Barmore's playing time.
"For a guy who hasn't who hasn't really put on pads since January, it's tough. You never want to just throw a guy out there coming off an injury regadless of what the injury is and throw him out there for 50 plays. That's unrealistic. I think we see what he can handle and we'll go from there," Coach Mayo told Patriots.com.
Although his role will be limited, Barmore could immediately improve the Patriots pass rush. According to NextGen Stats, New England ranks dead-last in pressure generated by a four-man pass rush (24.8%) this season. The Pats also have the second-biggest discrepancy between their pressure rate when blitzing (45.1%) and without the blitz (24%), meaning they have to bring extra rushers to get pressure on the quarterback.
Last season, Barmore led the team with 8.5 sacks and 49 pressures, while the Patriots pressure rate from a four-man rush improved from 24.8% to 31% with Barmore in 2023. From this perspective, working Barmore into their third-down pass rush package, where he'd play roughly 10-15 snaps, seems like a good way to ease him into the action.
The other angle to Barmore's return is that veteran DE Deatrich Wise (foot) and DT Jaquelin Roy (neck) will miss Sunday's game. Wise and Roy didn't practice this week, so their absences aren't surprising. Now, it's about how the Pats replace his 46.9% snap rate. In Week 10, Wise logged two sacks, a batted pass, and two stops in 28 snaps. The nine-year veteran filled the stat sheet in his rotational role, meaning someone else must step up.
In theory, Barmore could eat up some of those snaps left behind by Wise, who played 26 of his 28 snaps against the pass vs. the Bears. New England is also expected to expand DT Jeremiah Pharms's role after his monster performance last week. In Chicago, Pharms logged a sack, two hurries, and four stops with three tackles for loss in his best game as a pro. After a full practice week with his new team, newcomer Yannick Ngakoue will also make his Patriots debut on Sunday.
A potential pass rush that includes Barmore, Ngakoue, Pharms, and hybrid DE Keion White is exciting. The Patriots defensive line will also lean on NT Davon Godchaux and DT Daniel Ekuale with Wise and Roy unavailable. On the other side, Los Angeles is projected to start thing-string RT Warren McClendon Jr., while Rams head coach Sean McVay has kept his cards close to the vest at center, where it's a battle between vet Jonah Jackson and rookie Beaux Limmer. Although the Rams O-Line isn't as depleted as the Bears last week, New England should still have its opportunities.
Along with Barmore's return, the Patriots defense will get captain Kyle Dugger back in the secondary. Dugger has missed the last three games due to a nagging ankle injury, but the Pats safety is officially active on Sunday. Dugger and fellow starter Jabrill Peppers's (commissioners exempt list) absence has opened the door for undrafted rookie Dell Pettus to emerge in a larger role. One would expect Dugger to return to his usual role in place of Mapu, who is inactive due to a neck injury, with Pettus and Hawkins filling the other safety spot.
Lastly, on defense, the Patriots elevated linebackers Joe Giles-Harris and Keshawn Banks from the practice squad this week, signaling that Sione Takitaki (knee) and Christian Elliss's (abdomen) statuses were up in the air; both Pats linebackers were listed as questionable on the team's final injury report. Officially, Takitaki and Elliss are both active. Expect the two practice squad elevations to contribute primarily on special teams.
The Patriots defense is trying to build on a stellar nine-sack performance in last week's win in Chicago. To this point, the defense has underperformed, ranking 30th in DVOA through 10 weeks. With Barmore and Dugger returning, the Pats could turn a corner defensively.
Moving over to the offense, New England is healthy for this time of year on the offensive side of the ball. Plus, Coach Mayo told reporters on Friday that he felt like Thursday's practice was the best the offense has had all season. The only uncertainty was starting LT Vederian Lowe, who was among 10 questionable players due to a shoulder injury.
The good news is Lowe is active, which likely means the Patriots will start the same offensive line for the second consecutive week. New England's projected starting five is LT Vederian Lowe, LG Michael Jordan, C Ben Brown, RG Mike Onwenu, and RT Trey Jacobs. Last week, this group produced a 41.9% rushing success rate with a 37.9% pressure rate vs. a decent Bears defensive front. It wasn't perfect, but it's functional in a season where that hasn't always been the case for the offensive line.
That said, the Patriots O-Line will face arguably its stiffest test against the Rams. Los Angeles's defensive front enters the week ranked second in pressure rate (41%) and seventh in run-stop win rate (33%). Led by Defensive Rookie of the Year front-runner Jared Verse, the Rams defensive line has game-wrecking potential. This will take a group effort to prevent this LA front from taking over Sunday's game: offensive line, play calling, and QB Drake Maye being on the same page as his receivers to beat pressure. If the Pats don't manage the situation, the Rams exotic scheme and aggressive front will dominate this matchup.
As for Maye's pass-catchers, the Patriots released third-year WR Tyquan Thornton on Saturday, potentially ending a 2.5-year run for the former second-round pick in New England. With Thornton's release, the Pats active receivers are Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, Ja'Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, and Kendrick Bourne. The storyline worth monitoring is Bourne's usage. Last week, the veteran didn't play a single snap vs. the Bears, which was surprising. On Sunday, Bourne is getting the nod over Osborn, who is a healthy scratch this week.
OL - Lowe, Jordan, Brown, Onwenu, Jacobs
WR - Boutte, Douglas, Polk, Baker, Bourne
TE - Henry, Hooper, Bell
RB - Stevenson, Gibson, Hasty
To summarize, above is the Patriots projected supporting cast for rookie QB Drake Maye vs. a surging Rams defense.
On Sunday, the Patriots hope to string together their first two-game winning streak since they won three in a row in Weeks 8-11 during the 2022 season – nearly two years ago. New England got a big win last week in Chicago, but it only matters if head coach Jerod Mayo's squad can stack multiple wins together to get things moving in the right direction.
The Patriots host the Rams with kickoff at 1 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
