Patriots Rumors: Cole Strange May Be out Until Midseason with Significant Knee Injury

After suffering a season-ending knee injury in December, New England Patriots guard Cole Strange is reportedly not expected to be ready for the start of the 2024 regular season.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the knee injury Strange suffered last season was "significant," and he may not be cleared to return until the middle of the 2024 campaign.

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo seemingly confirmed that Strange is not close to returning, telling Rapoport: "He's more of a, let's say, week-by-week or you can go month-by-month if you want to. But he is working hard, he is doing his rehab. Here every day. He is in the meeting room, so I am happy where he is."

New England somewhat surprisingly used a first-round pick on Strange in the 2022 NFL draft, selecting him 29th overall out of Chattanooga.

He proceeded to start all 17 games as a rookie, and then started all 10 games he appeared in last season, although his campaign was cut short due to the knee ailment.

Strange is penciled in as the Pats' starting left guard when healthy, but if he is indeed forced to start the 2024 season on the shelf, New England's offensive line depth will be tested heavily.

Sidy Sow, who was a 2023 fourth-round pick, is the likely starter at right guard after making 13 starts last season.

Options at left guard during Strange's absence include Layden Robinson, Nick Leverett and Atonio Mafi.

Robinson is a rookie fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M, and Mafi was a fifth-round pick out of UCLA last year who was active for all 17 games and made five starts as a rookie.

Leverett, 27, is the most-experienced option, as he spent the past three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and made 10 starts in 2022.

Whoever starts at left guard could be tasked with protecting a rookie quarterback out of the gates, as the Patriots used the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft on North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.

New England also signed veteran signal-caller Jacoby Brissett during the offseason, though, meaning there may not necessarily be any rush to press Maye into the starting lineup.