The Patriots won’t have Rhamondre Stevenson against the Falcons on Sunday.
New England’s starting running back will be ruled out with a toe injury, according to Mike Vrabel. Stevenson missed the entire week of practice, and Vrabel was curt when asked when the back sustained the injury.
“Rhamondre will be out,” Vrabel replied, avoiding the question.
Does Vrabel expect this to be a long-term issue for Stevenson?
“Certainly won’t be (playing) this week,” Vrabel said.
Stevenson’s absence means rookie TreVeyon Henderson should shoulder his heaviest workload to date against Atlanta. Newly-promoted Terrell Jennings is the only other running back on the 53-man roster, so the Patriots will also likely elevate a practice squad member.
The Patriots signed running backs D’Ernest Johnson, Jonathan Ward and Rushawn Baker this week. Johnson and Ward have been in the league for years, while Baker is a rookie, so New England will likely elevate one of the veterans.
“We’ll try to figure out who is ready to go at the end of the week and we’ll make that decision tomorrow,” Vrabel said.
Running backs coach Tony Dews was pleased with what he’d seen from the new trio of backs since arriving in New England this week.
“They’re all great guys,“ Dews said. ”They’re all trying to catch up to speed. They’re all different and unique in their styles. So coming in the middle of the season like this, they’re being sponges trying to soak everything up. It comes back to blocking and fundamentals and techniques.
“They’re all running backs, so they know how to run. They’ve been doing it since they were young. So we’ve just gotta clean up the fundamentals, teach them the system, then when and if they get an opportunity, I’m certainly sure they’ll all take advantage of it.”
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