The Patriots left Jacksonville with more than a 35-6 loss on their hands. They also walked out of Week 3 with a right side of the offensive line that looks increasingly patched together, plus a handful of other injury concerns that popped up during a rough afternoon.
The biggest issue may be the one that never fully turned into an official injury designation: Morgan Moses. The veteran right tackle was limited in practice all week, traveled to Jacksonville without a game designation, and still spent much of the game looking compromised. He was hobbling at times from the opening drive and eventually got pulled late in the third quarter for rookie Caleb Lomu.
There were other scares, too, even if most of them didn’t amount to much in the end. Christian Gonzalez had his shoulder checked after a physical third-down tackle in the first quarter, but the team never announced an injury and he never missed a snap.
Center Jared Wilson played all 51 snaps next to Drake Maye despite taking a cut on his right middle finger early in the game - the second time that’s happened this season after Week 1 against Seattle. Maye said the bleeding may have played a role in his first-quarter fumble.
Christian Barmore was briefly in the spotlight after being listed as questionable to return early in the second quarter because of a shoulder issue. He went to the locker room, came back to the sideline soon after, and returned to action later in the quarter without any obvious limitation.
The one injury that actually forced a real shuffle came at right guard. Greg Van Roten, already filling in for the injured Mike Onwenu, got slow to rise after a third-down play in the second quarter and went into the blue medical tent to have his thigh checked out. He was eventually ruled questionable to return and never came back, leaving Walter Rouse to finish the game.
Carlton Davis III also had to be looked at after a sideline tackle in the third quarter. The cornerback, back in the lineup after missing the previous game with a neck injury, stayed down on one knee before walking off under his own power and heading to the medical tent. He missed five defensive plays before returning on the next series.
A couple more Patriots were banged up late but stayed in the game. Will Campbell was slow to get up after a short run in the fourth quarter, but he limped back to the huddle, stayed on the field, and finished with a 100% playing time share. Ben Brown showed some discomfort one play later after a short catch-and-run, yet he also remained in the contest and finished without obvious limitations.
From a positive angle, only Van Roten actually failed to finish the game. From the other side, the Patriots are now staring at another week where the injury report could matter just as much as the opponent.
That’s because the right guard situation has already been strained since Mike Onwenu went down with a fractured ankle in Week 2. Against Jacksonville, that spot went from Onwenu to Van Roten to Rouse, a late-August trade pickup who had played zero regular season snaps at the position since entering the NFL in 2024. Rouse may develop into something useful, but that chain of replacements is still a steep drop-off.
Van Roten might still be in play for the Week 4 matchup with the Buffalo Bills, but the Patriots’ right side remains a concern, especially with Moses dealing with his own issues. The first clue about availability will come Wednesday, when practice and the injury report begin to sort out who can go.
The Patriots travel to face the 3-0 Bills on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
In Other News...
Patriots Fans Just Got A Telling Caleb Lomu Update
The Patriots used the lopsided game against the Jaguars to give Caleb Lomu a longer look, with Mike Vrabel turning to the first-round pick at right tackle in place of Morgan Moses. It was less about sending a message about the depth chart and more about getting Lomu live reps in a game that had already tilted heavily, while the team continues to manage a banged-up offensive line.
Vrabel made clear after the move that Mosess job was not in danger, a useful bit of clarity for a position group that has been under strain lately. New England has already put Mike Onwenu on injured reserve and then lost Greg Van Roten to a thigh injury during the game, so every snap Lomu gets now carries a little more value for a line that needs stability as much as it needs evaluation. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Hines-Allen Sideline Scuffle Took A Strange Jaguars Turn
Travis Hunters first career interception brought the kind of sideline buzz Jacksonville was hoping for, but the moment took an odd turn when Josh Hines-Allen got tangled in a brief scuffle over the ball. What started as a tug-of-war quickly became a shove, turning an otherwise celebratory sequence into a sideline scene that drew attention well beyond the play itself.
Jaguars coach Liam Coen said the situation appears to be resolved, but one strange wrinkle remains: the staffer involved has not been officially identified by either team. A single-source claim suggested the person was not a Jaguars employee and may have been connected to New England, adding an unusual Patriots angle to an incident that still has some unanswered questions. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Sideline Scuffle Just Turned Into A Weird Staffer Mystery
Travis Hunters first career interception was supposed to be the headline out of the Jaguars game, but the moment quickly spilled over into a sideline scuffle over the football. Josh Hines-Allen got involved in the dispute, and what should have been a routine keepsake issue instead turned into a strange postgame wrinkle involving a staffer on the sideline.
Liam Coen said the situation appears to be resolved, but the lingering mystery is less about the ball than about who was actually in the middle of the argument. A single-source claim suggested the staffer was not employed by the Jaguars and might have been with the Patriots, but neither team has confirmed that detail, leaving one odd little sideline story still hanging in the air. [Read more 🡒]