Patriots Survive Injury Concerns of Their Own

The Giants aren't the only team to have had to deal with injuries Thursday night. The Patriots suffered some in-game injuries as well that forced them to adjust accordingly.

Much has been made about the injured players the Giants were without in their Week 6 game against the Patriots.

If it’s any consolation, the Patriots, who endured injuries of their own, feel the Giants’ pain.

Among the injuries suffered by New England--who by the way, came into the game minus running back Rex Burkhead and receiver Phillip Dorsett--were safety Patrick Chung, who left the game in the first quarter with a chest injury; cornerback J.C. Jackson, who hurt his knee in the second half; linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who hurt his shoulder; and tight end Matt LaCosse, who tweaked his knee.  

“Coaches did a good job, players did an excellent job of managing those groups with different people subbing in for them,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. 

“That’s football. Things like that happen. You have to be able to adjust to it. “But our players do a great job of just working with whoever’s in there and making sure we get the communication and the assignments right. Sometimes it’s a little tricky, like, ‘Who are you? Are you this guy, that guy or that guy?’ But they do a good job of sorting it out so that there’s no confusion.”

Indeed, the Patriots got boosts elsewhere to help keep themselves undefeated this season. Players like cornerback Stephon Gilmore helped lead the Patriots in limiting the Giants passing offense. 

“He does such a great job playing the ball and had some good breaks,” Belichick said of Gilmore. 

“That last play down the sideline was a really good finish where the receiver had the ball, and he got it on the way down, but he had some great pass breakups. This is a good example here on a short week of how diligent he works, and it paid off. He’s done a great job for us.”

The blocked punt on special teams also gave the Patriots an early boost that would help carry them through the game, a score Belichick called “bonus points” given their unexpected nature.

“You don’t really think about getting those when you go into the game, so to be able to get 14 of them was huge,” Belichick said. 

“Again, give the Giants credit. They battled back, and they hit us on a big play, and then they got a scoop-and-score and got back into the game as well. We’ve got to avoid giving up those big plays up to offset the ones that we make. In the end, we made enough plays in the second half to come out on top.”

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