Patriots Special-Team Iron Man OUT For Season With Foot Injury
FOXBORO — For the first time in nearly eight seasons, the New England Patriots will require the services of a new long snapper.
Having initially been ruled out of the Pats Week 16 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals at Gillette Stadium, incumbent long snapper Joe Cardona will reportedly miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn tendon in his foot.
The 30-year-old experienced a partial tear during New England’s Week 14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Despite being listed on the team’s injury report for Week 15, Cardona chose to play through it for last Sunday’s matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders. Throughout the week, the injury worsened, forcing him to miss both of the team’s practices. Cardona is expected to be placed on season-ending injured reserve
A native of San Diego, California, Cardona attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Island, for one year before enrolling in the United States Naval Academy. At Navy, he was a four-year starter in football as a long snapper, where he was not charged with a single bad snap. During his four years at Navy, the Midshipmen compiled a 30–21 record, including four wins over arch-rival Army, and played in three bowl games.
In 2015, the Patriots selected Cardona in the fifth round (166th overall) of the 2015 NFL draft, making him the fourth pure long snapper to be drafted in NFL history. He was also the second drafted by the Patriots, who selected Jacob Ingram in the sixth-round in 2009. He was a member of two Patriots’ Super Bowl Championship teams (LI, LIII), and was chosen to the New England Patriots All-Dynasty Team.
With his season apparently over, Cardona’s impressive streak of consecutive games played will come to an end. The ex-Midshipman has appeared in 140 straight games for the Patriots — 127 in the regular season and 13 playoff contests.
While Cardona is expected to be fully recovered by spring, the Patriots will need to fill the void at the position for the remaining three games, as well as a slightly-possible postseason berth. The most-likely candidate was Tucker Addington, who currently resides on the New England practice squad after joining the team as a free agent last week. The 25-year-old appeared in 48 games during his career at Sam Houston State. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2022 USFL supplemental draft earlier this year, and also spent time on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad in October.
Though Cardona is headed for unrestricted free agency in the offseason, he is expected to be retained by the team, despite his injury.
The Patriots and Bengals are set for a Christmas Eve kickoff at 1 p.m. on Saturday from Gillette Stadium.
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