Patriots' Week 6 Inactives and What It Means
The New England Patriots' inactives list for Week 6 is out, which includes five players: quarterback Brian Hoyer, running back J.J. Taylor, tight end Dalton Keene, cornerback Myles Bryant and defensive lineman Carl Davis.
Hoyer being inactive means that Jarrett Stidham, who was active for his first game this season in Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs, has beat out Hoyer for the backup quarterback job. Stidham played a little over a quarter of football against the Chiefs, and although he didn't play great he performed better than Hoyer, who had several mental lapses and overall played poorly.
No Taylor means New England's backfield will consist of Damien Harris, James White and Rex Burkhead. Davis, who signed with the team this week from the Jaguars practice squad, will have to wait another week to make his Patriots debut.
On Saturday it was reported that Sony Michel also tested positive for COVID-19 and thus was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list along with starting right guard Shaq Mason and defensive lineman Derek Rivers. Mason and Rivers didn't test positive but are still being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which hints at them potentially being in close contact with someone that has tested positive.
On Friday offensive lineman James Ferentz tested positive, which caused the Patriots to shut down their facility the same day. Ferentz and Michel become the fifth and sixth positive tests, respectively, in New England since Oct. 2.
With no Ferentz or Mason in the lineup, New England will have to get very creative. Joe Thuney will likely pick up another start at center, with rookie Michael Onwenu drawing another start at left guard. In terms of who will be the starting right guard, Jermaine Eluemunor could slide from right tackle to right guard, with rookie Justin Herron drawing the start at right tackle for the second-straight game.
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