FOXBOROUGH – It looks like the Patriots running back depth could be tested this weekend against the Atlanta Falcons.
On Thursday, Rhamondre Stevenson missed his second-straight practice due to a toe injury. The Patriots have one more practice left in the week, on Friday, before needing to decide if they’ll have their starting running back on Sunday.
Stevenson, 27, leads the Patriots in rushing with 279 yards and three touchdowns. He also has 16 receptions for 169 receiving yards. Last weekend, Stevenson ran for 34 yards on 14 carries. He also caught a 15-yard pass from Drake Maye.
If he can’t play, the Patriots will rely on rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson. The second-round pick is coming off the best game of his career, rushing for 75 yards on 10 carries.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels believes Henderson will only get better.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that he’s fast,” McDaniels said. “He does some really good things with the ball in his hands. Just so happened that was something we felt good about last week, considering some of the other circumstances and factors that were going on in the game. I thought he made some really good runs. It wasn’t just ‘run around the corner and nobody’s there.’ I thought he had to make some nice cuts... I thought he fought through some contact. Excited to see him build on that.”
The Patriots running back depth has already been tested after Antonio Gibson suffered a season-ending knee injury. If Stevenson can’t play, the next man up would also be Terrell Jennings.
The 24-year-old signed to the Patriots’ 53-man roster off the practice squad on Wednesday. He’s been elevated to the Patriots game-day roster three times this season, running for 33 yards on seven carries.
After Jennings, the Patriots could elevate a newcomer to the roster. This week, the team signed three new running backs to their practice squad – D’Ernest Johnson, Rushawn Baker, and Johnathan Ward.
Johnson has the most experience, playing 96 NFL games for three teams.
On Thursday, McDaniels expressed confidence in his running back room.
“I think we have all the answers we need,” McDaniels said. “Once training camp starts, you don’t count on anything outside of what you have in the locker room, and you really don’t need anything outside of what you have. We’ve spent all the time we had trying to figure out how to put our players that are here in great positions. The guys know exactly how we want to try to play. I think different parts of our offense progress at different rates.”
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