Patriot Maven Notebook: Dugger Added to Injury Report, Brady Under the Weather? and More

The New England Patriots continue to make news as they start to make preparations for their week four matchup with Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From an addition to the Pats latest injury report to a couple of Patriots wideouts playing the numbers game, here are the latest Pats news and notes, courtesy of the Patriot Maven Notebook:

Patriots add Dugger to Thursday’s Injury Report:

While the Patriots enjoyed perfect attendance from their 53-man roster on Thursday (minus RB James White, who has yet to officially be placed on injured reserve), the Pats listed nearly-identical practice participation status as Wednesday’s report, with one exception.

Safety Kyle Dugger was listed as a limited participant on Thursday. The second-year defensive back is apparently dealing with a hamstring injury. As he was not listed on Wednesday’s report, it remains unclear as to whether Dugger suffered the injury during yesterday’s practice. Should his performance be compromised heading into Sunday’s matchup, the Patriots will have to seek an alternative to the three-safety personnel they often ran in Week Three against the Saints. As a result, special team stalwarts Justin Bethel and Cody Davis could see time at the position, as well as hybrid defensive back Joejuan Williams. Williams has both practiced, and played at the position, showing an ability to defend sizable tight ends.

Speaking of sizable tight ends, Buccaneers’ TE Rob Gronkowski (ribs) once again did not participate in practice on Thursday. While the former Patriots tight end would seemingly do anything to avoid missing his Foxboro homecoming, his absence from two consecutive practices puts his status for Sunday in doubt. Should Gronkowski be able to play, he would likely be limited in a specialized role.

For the second straight day, Bucs’ running back Giovani Bernard, and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul did not practice, putting their status for Sunday in question, as well.

Here is Thursday’s full report:

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

RB James White, Hip

LIMITED AVAILABILITY

DL Henry Anderson, Ankle

LB Ja'Whaun Bentley, Shoulder

T Trent Brown, Calf

S Kyle Dugger, Hamstring

K Nick Folk, Left Knee

LB Josh Uche, Back

LB Kyle Van Noy, Groin

T Isaiah Wynn, Knee

FULL AVAILABILITY

No Players Listed

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

RB Giovani Bernard, Knee

TE Rob Gronkowski, Ribs

OLB Jason Pierre-Paul, Shoulder

DL Steve McLendon, Not Injury Related (Resting Player)

LIMITED AVAILABILITY

CB Jamel Dean, Knee

FULL AVAILABILITY

CB Carlton Davis, Abdomen/Ribs

WR Chris Godwin, Thumb

WR Jaydon Mickens, Abdomen

Brady Losing his Voice?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady raised an eyebrow on Thursday, when he spoke with the media ahead of Sunday’s game against the Patriots. However, it was not what Brady said that caused concerned. It was not even the way he said it. It was how he sounded when speaking.

The 44-year-old quarterback sounded hoarse in his speech on Thursday, leading to a great deal of social media speculation that he may be feeling under the weather. However, Brady himself did not seem to be bothered by it, even cracking a joke saying:

“I’ve had a few of these days. I don’t know what the deal is, so I got to try and figure this out. I said my throat’s more tired than my arm. Imagine that.”

Following his appearance, ESPN’s Jenna Laine attempted to diffuse the minor uproar beginning to swell regarding Brady’s health:

Heads up: Tom Brady isn’t sick. He’s had issues a couple times losing his voice, going back to this summer in camp. The crowd noise was extra loud today so he was shouting over it. He had to do that last week too.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 30, 2021

Apparently, it will still be ‘game-on’ for Tom Brady on Sunday night in Foxboro.

Agholor and Harry ‘By the Numbers’

When N'Keal Harry returned to the practice field on Wednesday he was not wearing his customary number 15. Since Week One of the 2021 season, fellow receiver Nelson Agholor has been donning number 15 in Patriot blue.

Harry on the other hand was wearing number 1, most recently worn by former Pats’ quarterback Cam Newton.

For each Patriots wideout, it is a bit of ‘back to the future’ when it comes to jersey numbers. Harry wore number 1 at Arizona State, while Agholor wore 15 at USC, as well as last season with the Las Vegas Raiders.

When speaking with the media on Thursday, Agholor shed some light on exactly how the number swap came to be:

"Been nudging at him for a while,” Agholor said. “He wore 1 in college. I wore 15 in college. It's a number I like a lot... It didn't cost me anything and I'm happy about that."

While Agholor seemingly confirmed that he did not pay Harry for the jersey number, he also slyly joked that he would not tell the media, even if he had.