Patriots' Stephon Gilmore Won't Play vs. Bills with Knee Injury

The New England Patriots will be without star cornerback Stephon Gilmore for Sunday's pivotal game against the Buffalo Bills due to a knee injury he suffered in practice this week, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Gilmore is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, as he finished last season with 53 tackles and an NFL-leading 20 passes defended and six interceptions.

The 2020 season has been more of a struggle for Gilmore and the Patriots as a whole, as evidenced by his 20 tackles, two passes defended and one interception in six games.

After dominating opposing passing offenses last season, the Patriots have been closer to ordinary in that regard so far this season, as they rank 10th against the pass.

Durability is one issue that has plagued Gilmore throughout his NFL career, as he has appeared in all 16 games in a season just three times. Most recently, he missed time during the 2017 regular season because of a concussion.

Given how much of a key contributor he has become when healthy, the Pats can ill afford to lose the South Carolina product for an extended period because of their secondary's lack of proven depth.

Without Gilmore in the lineup against his former team Sunday, it is likely that veteran Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones and J.C. Jackson will operate as the team's top three cornerbacks.

Not having a shutdown corner of Gilmore's caliber could be a big issue against Buffalo since quarterback Josh Allen is among the NFL's passing leaders and wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been one of the top pass-catchers in the league.

The Patriots can ill afford to lose Sunday since they are 2-4 and trail the 5-2 Bills by 2.5 games for first place in the AFC East, but they seemingly have an uphill climb ahead of them.