Health Is New England Patriots' Biggest Obstacle Ahead of Regular Season

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was pounded like Ralphie beating up a bully in Thursday night's preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers.

Now would be an easy time to grab at the low-hanging fruit and start panicking about the Patriots offensive line.

To do so, however, would be to ignore the context of injuries to four starters. Center Bryan Stork, left tackle Nate Solder, guard Ryan Wendell and right tackle Sebastian Vollmer did not suit up for Thursday night's game. Those four spots were manned by rookies and backups, who performed like rookies and backups in yielding seven sacks on Garoppolo and opening holes for just 86 yards rushing, with 55 of those yards coming on one play.

This quagmire of injuries is not limited only to the offensive line.

The Patriots have injury concerns everywhere you look, from running back to linebacker and wide receiver. Running backs LeGarrette Blount and Travaris Cadet were not active for Thursday night's game. Neither were linebackers Dont'a Hightower and Jerod Mayo, and wide receivers Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell and Brian Tyms.

Thursday only piled onto the injury concerns.

Defensive end Rufus Johnson, emerging from training camp as a potentially valuable piece on the depth chart, went down with a right leg injury and did not return to the game. Defensive end Trey Flowers and cornerback Darryl Roberts were also injured during the game and did not return. Running back James White suffered a leg injury of his own, but toughed it out and returned to the field.

Given the Patriots' aforementioned injury issues on the offensive line, it's a borderline miracle that Garoppolo himself was able to walk off the field under his own power.

On August 8, the Patriots were without 23 out of 90 players on their active roster at practice. That's more than 25 percent of the roster that was not in attendance. That also happens to be exactly the same number of players who did not dress for Thursday night's game. 

Every team faces injury woes at different points in the season. It's probably for the best that the Patriots suffer theirs in the preseason; at least it affords them some time to lick their wounds and get healthy.

Fortunately for the Patriots, several of the most important players are on the mend. Hightower has been practicing, albeit in limited fashion while wearing a red non-contact jersey. Edelman made his return to practice on Tuesday but was only seen in the non-contact portion of practice before making his way off the field. Wendell has been taking part in conditioning drills. 

There's a light at the end of the tunnel. The Patriots just better hope the end of that tunnel comes before they miss their exit for Week 1 of the regular season.

It would be tough enough to start the season without Tom Brady calling the signals at quarterback. Imagine Garoppolo throwing to receivers not named Edelman and LaFell.

Wait, you don't have to. If you watched Thursday night's game, you saw what it would look like. And it would look like a whole lot of Josh Boyce, Brandon Gibson and Jonathan Krause. Take nothing away from those receivers, but they're not starters for a reason.

The Patriots need to get healthy, and fast. No one will feel sorry for them if they aren't ready to go when the regular season rolls around.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information obtained via first-hand observation and recording.