Darrelle Revis Injury: Updates on Patriots Star's Hamstring and Recovery

New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis' injury questions aren't going away anytime soon. Revis was pulled from Week 5's game against the Cincinnati Bengals after going down in the third quarter.

Michele Tafoya reported on the injury via the Sunday Night Football Twitter account:

The Patriots would confirm that Revis is dealing with a hamstring issue: 

Although he would return at the beginning of the fourth quarter: 

Revis, 29, is in his first season with the Patriots. He signed a two-year, $32 million contract this offseason, though it is for all intents and purposes a one-year, $12 million deal due to the team's club option after the first year. New England is considered highly unlikely to pay Revis the $12.5 million roster bonus for next season, which would leave him with a cap figure of $25 million (h/t Spotrac.com).

That essentially made the agreement the definition of a "prove it" deal—something Revis needed to do after an up-and-down season in Tampa Bay. Coming off a torn ACL suffered two weeks into the 2012 season, Revis struggled reaching his former heights and had issues with Greg Schiano's defensive system.

The former Pitt star recorded 50 total tackles and two interceptions, as Tampa Bay's pass defense settled near the middle of the league. Amid controversy inside the locker room and outside criticism of Schiano, the Bucs finished a disappointing 4-12. Working in a zone-based system that did not allow him to utilize his man-to-man skills, it felt at times as if Revis' talents were being wasted.

After the Bucs hired Lovie Smith—another coach who prefers a zone-based scheme—the writing was on the wall for Revis' short stay in Florida. He was released after a flurry of trade rumors and then landed in New England, where scheme again became one of the major storylines. With Revis and Brandon Browner in tow, many were interested to see if Bill Belichick would give more autonomy to his new star or stick with a more left-side/right-side equation.

“Whatever role coach wants me to play, I’m ready to play,” Revis told reporters. “It’s still early, it’s camp, you never know. But as of right now we’ve got to do our jobs, whether it’s left or right, special teams, I don’t know. But right now we’re just trying to get reps.”

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While probably not ideal for his skill set, it's worth noting that Revis was still pretty good in zone last season. Only Richard Sherman allowed fewer receptions per snap, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and Revis remains a quietly solid run defender. Football Outsiders' charting was a little less friendly, but as Aaron Schatz noted, it's sometimes worth noting how little guys were targeted and not just their success rate.

When writing about Sherman, Schatz highlighted, "sometimes great corners have mediocre numbers because they only get thrown at when they make mistakes." The same can be said for Revis. At the very least, we can point out the obvious and say the Patriots will be nervously awaiting word on Revis' full prognosis.

With him, the secondary looks like a strength. A long-term absence essentially puts New England back into the position it has resided in the last few years.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.