Mills, Perkins ‘Out’ For Sunday vs. Texans — What it Means for the Patriots

How will the Patriots cope with the loss of one of their most productive defensive backs on Sunday vs, the Texans?

In the wake of trading arguably their most prominent defensive player in cornerback Stephon Gilmore earlier this week, the New England Patriots will enter Sunday’s Matchup with the Houston Texans with some concerns in the secondary.

After having been listed as ‘questionable’ on Friday’s final injury report, both cornerback Jalen Mills and linebacker Ronnie Perkins have been officially downgraded to ‘out’ for Week Five.

While Perkins had been a limited participant in practice this week, dealing with an ankle injury, the presence of fellow linebackers Matt Judon and Josh Uche should help to compensate for Perkins’ lack of availability. However, Mills’ status presents more of a potential problem.

With Gilmore having been sidelined to start the 2021 season, Mills has been the team’s primary option as their starting second cornerback. Through the first four games, Mills has amassed 12 total tackles (nine of which have been solo tackles) and one pass defended. As such, he was expected to be a key factor in the Patriots’ pass defense on Sunday.

With rookie Shaun Wade also sidelined on Sunday (as he recovers from a concussion), the starting duties look to fall upon cornerback Joejuan Williams. The 23-year-old possesses plenty of potential value due to his size and athleticism. Despite being used in more of a specialized role in 2020, the Vanderbilt product seemed to have returned to more of a traditional corner role, while maintaining his physicality. Still, he has yet to emerge as a match with New England’s press coverage schemes. Williams has been used sparingly throughout the Patriots first four games, having only seen the field on 21 percent of New England’s defensive snaps during that period.

In addition to Mills, safety Kyle Dugger (hamstring), along with cornerback Jonathan Jones (ankle) are also officially ‘questionable’ for Week Five, after having been limited participants in practice on Thursday and Friday. New England has also listed defensive backs Justin Bethel (hamstring) and Cody Davis (knee) as ‘questionable’ for Sunday, as well. Though Bethel and Davis are primarily special teams’ contributors, their potential inability to suit up leaves the Patriots relatively thin in their defensive backfield heading into Week Five.

Kickoff for the Patriots and Texans is set for 1:00pm ET from NRG Stadium in Houston Texas.