Nate Solder Injury Update: Patriots OT Placed on IR with Torn Biceps Muscle

The New England Patriots officially placed offensive tackle Nate Solder on injured reserve Wednesday because of a torn biceps muscle, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The injury will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Solder injured the muscle during the Patriots' 30-6 Week 5 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Per ESPN.com's Mike Reiss, Solder "jumped into the air after [Tyrone] Crawford rushed past him, as his right arm appeared to be extended in a compromising position."

Solder went to Twitter to thank his supporters in humorous fashion:

The fifth-year veteran has appeared in every game but one for New England since being drafted in 2011 and has played more snaps than any Patriot besides quarterback Tom Brady, per Reiss.

Marcus Cannon, who also broke into the league in 2011, replaced Solder on Sunday, and Reiss reported he is expected to be the man at left tackle moving forward. With the Patriots traveling to Indianapolis in Week 6, Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star expects the Colts to take advantage of Solder's absence: 

Via Reiss, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick expressed his confidence in Solder's replacement:

"

Marcus has always played well for us. Two years ago when he was in for right tackle Sebastian) Vollmer, last year the opportunities that he had early in the year, particularly at tackle, and then this year he's played in every game, played a number of snaps in all of our games, so he's always done a good job for us when he's been in there. I'm glad we have him.

"

That kind of experience will be needed in order to protect Brady's blind side. Cannon appeared in all four of New England's games this season, so it's not like the Patriots will be sending in a player who has been riding the bench all season. That is going to be invaluable in his first test against Colts edge-rushers Robert Mathis and Trent Cole.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.