FOXBORO — If the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, the shortest path the Patriots can take to a nightmare season is a line out of the trainer’s room.
Backup offensive tackle Marcus Bryant joined the walking wounded Saturday night in the Pats’ second preseason game. He hurt his ankle, hobbled to the locker room and was ruled out.
Granted, Bryant is not exactly Bruce Armstrong in disguise. But if the Patriots’ offensive line takes another hit, they might give the 60-year-old franchise Hall of Famer a call soon enough.
Already this preseason, the Pats have lost more Week 1 starters to serious injury along their offensive line than they did all of last year. Last November, Will Campbell tore his MCL and missed four games. That same day, Jared Wilson suffered a high ankle sprain and checked out for three. Meanwhile, starting right tackle Morgan Moses, then-center Garrett Bradbury and right guard Mike Onwenu were all XXXL-sized portraits of health and consistency.
No such luck this summer.
Ben Brown, the Patriots’ best backup interior O-lineman who started the preseason opener at center, will be out several weeks. Another starter from last week, left guard Andrew Rupcich, has already been released with an injury settlement after he limped to the sideline mid-game. And now there’s Bryant, who had outperformed first-round rookie Caleb Lomu in their ongoing battle for the swing tackle job before being helped off Saturday night.
(Lomu? He’s fine. You know, aside from the sack he gave up on a stunt in the second quarter, and the fact he played deep into the third.)
Before you accuse me of being an alarmist, a pessimist or a mindless member of the media who must have missed the fact that the Patriots’ starters sat Saturday night, remember that Brown appeared in all 17 regular-season games last year. He started four of them. And the 331 offensive snaps he logged were more than DeMario Douglas did.
New England Patriots offensive lineman Ben Brown is helped off the field after an injury against the Indianapolis Colts as head coach Mike Vrabel walks toward the bench during the first half of an NFL preseason game, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Important players play in the preseason. Not many, but they’re out there; whether you, me or even Mike Vrabel knows yet whom the Patriots will count on to provide depth, just like they did with Brown last year.
Right now, the Pats are perilously thin at a handful of critical positions, which explains how undrafted rookie Jacob Rizy, a career backup at Florida State, started at center Saturday night. That’s how fast it can hit the fan in the NFL.
And it’s not as if other Patriots who faced the Eagles’ JV squad won’t take varsity snaps during the regular season.
Do you know who their third running back will be for the season opener at Seattle? The Patriots don’t. Not yet, anyway. But you can bet it will be one of Lan Larison, Hassan Haskins, Jam Miller or JaMycal Hasty, who all took carries and together averaged fewer than four yards per rush.
How about the backup tight ends? Hunter Henry hung out on the sideline in a ball cap Saturday, while third-round rookie Eli Raridon was nowhere to be found. Hopefully, he’s OK. But will you feel OK if Tanner Arkin or Jack Westover are asked to replace Henry for three games in December because he pulled a hamstring?
What about the pass rush? Second-round rookie outside linebacker Gabe Jacas started the second half Saturday after committing a roughing the passer penalty and only generating pressure when he came through unblocked. His presence on the field was a clear sign the Patriots want more from him. Take it from Vrabel.
“We’re going to make sure we get our guys ready, and the ones that we need to see will play tonight,” he told 98.5 The Sports Hub pregame.
The Pats finished with four QB hits, excluding Jacas’ freebie.
Against the run, starting defensive tackles Joshua Farmer and Leonard Taylor III got steamrolled during Philly’s touchdown drive that bridged the first and second quarters. Right now, Farmer and Taylor are the Patriots’ No. 4 and No. 5 players at a position where one starter, Christian Barmore, has missed about as many team periods in training camp as he’s played.
One more? Inside linebacker.
Chad Muma, an early riser in camp, is plummeting down the depth chart. Missed tackles, bad angles, all the things that made him wash out as a former top-75 draft pick in Jacksonville after three seasons and wake up on the shores of the Colts’ practice squad last year. Muma’s been the next man up after Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss in training camp. That is until recently because of his poor performance.
Considering Muma played until the waning minutes Saturday, he appears to be squarely on the bubble if not the chopping block. Now, the Patriots’ top backup could be K.J. Britt, a third-stringer earlier this summer. Or undrafted rookie Khalil Jacobs, a part-time college starter who also got banged up against the Eagles.
At least Jacobs returned to play, and shook off whatever seemed to ticket him for the next open table in the trainer’s room.
Thank the football gods.