Patriots Opener Suddenly Has Two Lineup Concerns Fans Will Watch

Key players missing from the Patriots lineup could impact their performance in the season opener against the Seahawks.

The Patriots’ first injury update of the week brought one clear setback and one encouraging sign before Wednesday night’s opener against the Seahawks.

Center Ben Brown is officially out for the game at Lumen Field. Brown did not practice on Labor Day, did not travel with the team, and has been ruled out for the season opener. Running back TreVeyon Henderson also sat out Monday’s work with an ankle injury, though he has not been ruled out yet.

Henderson has been dealing with a right ankle issue since Aug. 24, and the absence stretched into a second straight week. Before practice, Mike Vrabel said the team was still waiting to see what the second-year back could do.

“We’ll see how he feels today. We’ll see if he can do anything,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said of the second-year running back prior to practice.

“He’s been working extremely hard to come back, and we’ll see where that goes here today. We do have a few more days before, but we’ll see what he’s able to do today.”

Brown’s absence leaves New England thinner inside after he had already missed time since the preseason opener. The Patriots released and then re-signed him after the 53-man roster deadline, but he won’t be available Wednesday night.

With Brown out, summer addition Greg Van Roten is positioned as the top interior backup. Van Roten now has 105 starts in his NFL career.

There were no Patriots listed under limited participation, making it consecutive practices without any partial participants before the team headed to the Pacific Northwest. The Seahawks had not yet released their side of the second injury report as of Monday night.

On the positive side, defensive tackle Christian Barmore returned to full participation after opening the week as a non-participant. He continued to manage a knee injury, but was back in full work on Labor Day outside Gillette Stadium. Barmore started a career-high 16 games for New England in 2025 and finished with 29 tackles, 11 quarterback hits and a pair of sacks.

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