Patriots' top offensive players ailing, miss practice

Sep 21, 2017 - 7:49 PM FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The list of players absent from the New England Patriots' practice on Wednesday as the team kicked off preparations for the unfamiliar Rams was a who's who.

Tom Brady, who limped around quite a bit during and after last Sunday's victory by the Patriots (9-2) in New York because of to a right knee injury, missed Wednesday practice for the second straight week.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski was absent from the practice field thanks to a back injury that sidelined him early in the first quarter in New York. The All-Pro tight end dealt with a chest injury heading into the Jets battle and also missed time because of a hamstring issue in August and September.

Wide receiver Julian Edelman also missed practice on Wednesday, the slot receiver who leads New England with 64 receptions on the season has been dealing with a foot injury basically dating to the middle of last season, although this is the first time this fall its forced him to miss any time.

All this for an offense that has been scuffling a bit in recent weeks, having entered the fourth quarter of the last two games in San Francisco and New York with only a 13-10 lead against two of the worst teams in football.

Although New England ranks No. 6 in the league in scoring, preparing to meet Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn and the relatively dangerous No. 9-ranked defense of the Rams (4-7) with the three most important offensive skill players ailing is far from ideal.

Brady, as well as coach Bill Belichick, put a premium on the importance of preparation and practice time.

"Defensively it starts up front," Belichick said of the challenge his banged-up offense faces this week in Foxborough. "A very good defensive line; Donald, Quinn -- a very disruptive group.

"They have a lot of negative plays. They make more negative plays than anybody so that'll be a big challenge for us. Overall, I'd say a very talented group at every position."

And while the Rams' offense -- led by No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff making his third-career start at quarterback and struggling second-year running back Todd Gurley (3.2 average on 200 carries) -- hasn't exactly lit the world afire, Belichick believes the group has the athletes to challenge any team, certainly a New England defense that's had its issues at times itself this fall.

"Of course very good players at the skill positions," Belechick said. "(Kenny) Britt and (Brian) Quick are tough. They make a lot of big plays. Britt's had a great year, strong, good hands, run after the catch.

"(Tavon) Austin of course is a dynamic player, so they really have a lot of threats offensively with a big, long offensive line. Goff I thought did a lot of good things last week, really the last couple of weeks. So he's obviously a very talented player as well."

Returning home after two road games that turned into fourth-quarter dogfights, and looking ahead on the schedule to upcoming battles with AFC playoff contenders in the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos, the Patriots continue to fight for the No. 1 seed in the conference.

Certainly they are a heavy favorite on Sunday against what should be an overmatched Rams team.

But with centerpiece guys like Brady, Gronkowski and Edelman missing practice as injuries begin to pile up in New England, the Patriots margin for error seems to be shrinking while fans' reason for concern is growing more than it usually does at this late point in another push toward a potential Super Bowl run.

December is here and there are only five games left to improve and continue to set the table for January.

"It's just a time that you want to play your best football," Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. "From being here for a while, we talk about it. (It's) a time where you just want to put everything else aside and try to focus in on these last couple games.

"I think that's what December means -- that it's almost over. We've got five games left in the regular season and you can't get those five games back. You can't make up them later in the season. It's here and now and that's it. I think that rings bells for all teams to know it's close to the end and each game really matters. You've got to really try to play your best so you're not sitting there in four or five weeks saying, 'I wish I had this week back, I wish I had that week back.' You just want to put it all out there."

SERIES HISTORY: 12th regular-season meeting. New England leads the all-time series, 6-5. The Patriots also took the most notable overall game in the series, the 20-17 victory in Super Bowl XXXVI on Adam Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal as time expired. This will be the first meeting between New England and the newly reminted Los Angeles version of the Rams since a 14-0 loss to the team in Los Angeles in 1992. The Patriots have won three straight in the regular season, including a 45-7 blowout in London in 2012.

--The Patriots will host a 15-year anniversary of New England's first Super Bowl champion team from 2001 during Sunday's games against the Rams. That team, Bill Belichick's second year in New England, upset the then-St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans.

Forty members of that team will be in Foxborough for the anniversary festivities. QB Tom Brady is the only player from that squad who remains active for the Patriots, though plenty of members of the coaching staff remain. That includes offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was in his first year as a low-level assistant back in 2001.

"I mean, that was my first year," McDaniels recalls. "And again, I think the thing I remember most is just the whole -- that year was one of the greatest examples of just 'team,' and being able to do what you need to do to try to win each week. It didn't matter how, it didn't matter who got the credit. It didn't seem like anybody cared what they were asked to do just as long as everybody did their job and what a great way to come in and learn that first year from a lot of really good coaches, good people in the personnel department. They taught me a whole lot about how this league works, how our organization runs, the discipline, the detail that it requires to be good on a week-to-week basis and the commitment that it takes to really try and compete at a championship level. It'll be great to see a lot of the guys that are coming back. I look forward to doing that."

--RT Marcus Cannon signed a reported five-year contract extension worth up to $32.5 million. The sixth-year player's new deal reportedly includes $14.5 million in guarantees and will pay just under $20 million in the first three seasons.

Cannon, the Patriots' 2011 fifth-round pick out of TCU who overcame non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as a rookie, has started 10 games this season at right tackle. Although he's struggled at times in the past, including playing time on the left side and guard, Cannon has probably been the Patriots' best, most consistent offensive lineman this season in the final year of a previous two-year extension he signed late in the 2014 season. He's started 29 of 75 games played in his five-plus seasons in New England.

"Marcus is having a good season," coazch Bill Belichick said. "He's been a good player for us. He's had to fill in when Sebastian (Vollmer) and Nate (Solder missed time) in previous years. We've felt like we have three good tackles and usually two of the three of them ended up playing, however it went.

"It's varied from year to year over the last few years, but Marcus has always done a solid job for us whenever he's played. I'm glad we have him going forward. He works hard. A quiet kid but he's very dependable, team oriented. He's done a good job for us in the running game and the passing game. He's been a good player."

Cannon is certainly happy to get the security of the new deal and to know he'll be in New England for the foreseeable future. But he says it won't change his approach to the job.

"That doesn't validate anything," Cannon said of the new deal. "I have to still come out here and do things better. There's still things I need to work on that I'm not as good at. I'm very thankful to the opportunity that they've given me and I'm very blessed.

"It was my ultimate goal to play here forever," Cannon said of a deal that runs through 2021, which would be his 11th NFL season.

--FS Devin McCourty is studying up on a familiar face this week as prepares to take on the Rams. Los Angeles' leading receiver, Kenny Britt, was a teammate of McCourty's at Rutgers. The ninth-year veteran paces the Rams with 54 catches for 788 yards (14.6 average) and four touchdowns.

"Aren't those Rutgers guys so good, man?" McCourty joked when asked about Britt. "He's a tough, physical player. He's a guy who -- he's a big guy but he can get down the field. (He) does a good job of catching the ball in traffic with guys hanging over him.

"We've just got to know where he's at. He's a big target for them. He has made a ton of plays for them this year so I think as a secondary we understand they're going to try to get him the ball in a bunch of different situations."

The secondary helped New England gets its first takeaway in nearly a month with CB Malcolm Butler's forced fumble and recovery against the Jets, but the captain of the Patriots back end unit knows there is much work to continue to be done.

"You've got to re-establish," McCourty said of a new week with a new challenge. "I think it's key, especially in the secondary with the talent you play week in and week out of coming into the game confident, coming into the game knowing what you want to do on the field and how you can play. I think that's a big key. You watch it all the time from the cornerback position of guys that get rolling, they get momentum, they get confidence, they can play well week in and week out and vice versa.

"If you're not playing well, if you're not mentally strong enough to get out of that and realize, 'I have a chance to start fresh this week,' you can start to see that snowball too. So it has been good. Guys have really been able to lock in the last couple weeks of going out there trying to make plays, understanding what we're doing defensively. So the key is to come back and start fresh, clean slate today in practice and get that confidence and get everything brewing ready to go out there and play at a high level (on) Sunday."

NOTES: QB Tom Brady, who limped around quite a bit during and after last Sunday's victory by the Patriots (9-2) in New York because of to a right knee injury, missed Wednesday practice for the second straight week. ... WR Julian Edelman also missed practice on Wednesday, the slot receiver who leads New England with 64 receptions on the season has been dealing with a foot injury basically dating to the middle of last season, although this is the first time this fall its forced him to miss any time. ... TE Kennard Backman re-signed with the Patriots' practice squad Nov. 30. The 6-3, 245-pound former Packers 2015 sixth-round pick out of UAB previously was on the New England practice squad from Nov. 12-15.