The Patriots’ injury luck has gone from manageable to messy in a hurry, and Sunday’s game against the Jets added another layer of trouble.
Even after Will Campbell and TreVeyon Henderson were shaken up against the Raiders and later surprisingly returned for the matchup with New York, the damage kept piling up before halftime. Romeo Doubs, Morgan Moses, and Alijah Vera-Tucker all had to leave the game early, leaving the Patriots scrambling on both sides of the ball.
Doubs gave the offense its biggest early spark, hauling in a 42-yard touchdown catch before going down on the field. Trainers checked on him after he first went to the blue medical tent, and he eventually headed to the locker room with what is said to be a shoulder injury. He was deemed questionable to return, then ruled out for the rest of the game at the start of the third quarter.
That loss matters just as much as the ones up front. The Patriots had finally gotten A.J. Brown back in the lineup, but now Drake Maye is once again staring at a depleted receiving group.
The offensive line, though, is where the hit is most severe. Moses exited with what is reportedly an ankle injury, and Caleb Lomu stepped in for him.
The rookie had been practicing with the idea that he would eventually take over for Moses next season, so this became a fast-moving test. It’s a tough ask, too, with Lomu matched up against David Bailey, whom he dominated in college, and with Bailey serving as the Jets’ leading pass rusher.
At left guard, Vera-Tucker also went down, leaving with a hamstring injury after a strong start to the 2026 season. Ben Brown replaced him, and the Patriots will need him to hold steady as long as AVT is out. The concern there is obvious: the line has already taken a heavy blow with Mike Onwenu out because of a broken ankle, and Campbell now dealing with a knee sprain.
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The larger takeaway is that Patriots fans do not seem to view the position as a panic point, even with the uncertainty around Campbells availability. A recent fan survey found a majority believe Lomu can handle fill-in duty at left tackle, and a sizable chunk are especially confident in him, which says plenty about how quickly he has earned trust in a spot that usually makes supporters nervous. [Read more 🡒]