FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — With all the injuries the New England Patriots have suffered lately, they got some good news Monday night before their game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium, but possibly more bad news during it.

Offensive tackles Marcus Cannon and Sebastian Vollmer returned and immediately got into the lineup. But wide receiver Aaron Dobson suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and was carted to the locker room.

The return of Cannon and Vollmer looked to stabilize the offensive line. The Patriots did struggle in the first half to run the ball against Buffalo, getting just 16 yards, and Tom Brady was under a lot of pressure when he tried to pass. But New England put together a nice drive to take a 10-3 halftime lead on a 20-yard pass from Brady to James White with 13 seconds remaining.

Cannon was at left tackle on that drive and Vollmer was at right tackle.

Cannon, a valuable reserve on the offensive line for years, stepped into the starting lineup at left tackle when Nate Solder was lost for the season with a torn biceps on Oct. 11. But Cannon suffered a toe injury in his first start at Indianapolis on Oct. 18 and had missed the last four games. He got the start at right tackle Monday.

Vollmer, normally the starting right tackle, had shifted to left tackle when Cannon was injured. But he suffered a concussion against Washington on Nov. 8 and sat out last week’s game. He was used as a reserve on Monday.

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Dobson, meanwhile, looked to step into a bigger role with the injury to Julian Edelman, who broke his foot on Nov. 15. Dobson made one spectacular catch for 17 yards in the second quarter, reaching out to make a finger-tip grab between two receivers on a post from the right. But he apparently injured an ankle on the play and had to be helped off the field. He was later brought to the locker room on a cart.

His absence meant the Patriots had just three wide receivers left: Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell and Chris Harper, who was just signed off the practice squad.

BY SCORING in each of the first three quarters, the Patriots extended their NFL record to 38 consecutive quarters in which they have scored. The only quarter they hadn’t scored in this year was the very first.

LINEBACKER JAMIE Collins was inactive for the third consecutive game with the illness that struck him just before the Nov. 8 game with Washington.

Offensive lineman Tre’ Jackson (knee) also missed his third consecutive game and wide receiver Keshawn Martin (hamstring) was out for the fifth straight game.

Other inactives included wide receiver Julian Edelman (broken foot last week), cornerback Justin Coleman (hand), defensive tackle Trey Flowers and, in a surprise, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga. This is the first time this season Siliga is inactive. He is healthy.

The Bills inactive list included veteran defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee) and running back Boom Herron.


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