The Patriots will be down two offensive linemen when the take on the 49ers on Sunday after left tackle Vederian Lowe (knee) and left guard Michael Jordan (ankle) were ruled out Friday as the Patriots traveled from New England to San Francisco for the Week 4 matchup.
Cornerback Alex Austin (ankle) was also ruled out while linebacker Anfernee Jennings (shoulder), cornerback Jonathan Jones (shoulder), guard Sidy Sow (ankle) and offensive Caedan Wallace (knee) were listed as questionable, indicating they had made the trip to California.
Sow, who was expected to start at left guard before suffering his injury in the Patriots preseason finale, will likely fill in for Jordan, who started the first three games of the season.
“Sidy’s done great,” Coach Jerod Mayo said Friday morning. “I talked to Sidy last week. It was close. It was close last week, and hopefully, we look forward to seeing him play here on Sunday.”
Demontrey Jacobs, who was claimed off waivers from the Broncos in late August, was spotted with the first-team offensive line at left tackle this week in practice. The Patriots’ other options in that spot would be Wallace and Caleb Jones, who’s currently on the practice squad.
“What I will say about Jacobs, the first thing is he’s a big man. That’s the first step,” Mayo said. “But he does a good job. He’s very coachable, I would say. He does a good job throwing his hands. Look, are there some things to work on? 100%. But his mentality and attitude has been great. He’s been getting better every single day.”
Marco Wilson will likely go back to being the Patriots’ fourth cornerback in Austin’s place. Wilson was a healthy scratch in Week 3 after being flagged for defensive pass interference in each of the Patriots’ first two games. Jennings missed practice Wednesday, but having him available as an early-down run-stuffer would be valuable against the 49ers. Nothing has indicated that Jones will not play, but his status still bears monitoring.
THE 2024 SEASON marks the 10-year anniversary of the 2014 Patriots team that went on to win Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.
But 10 years later, there’s only one player from that team who’s still on an NFL roster: quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The 32-year-old Garoppolo is currently a backup quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. In 2023, he opened the season as the starter for the Las Vegas Raiders, playing in six games that year before getting benched in October.
Time flies in the NFL, especially for players. That 2014 Patriots team was loaded with familiar names like Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork, Rob Gronkowski, Dont’a Hightower and Julian Edelman – along with the emergence of a little-known rookie named Malcolm Butler.
Many of those players were on hand in Week 2 at Gillette Stadium when the Patriots honored that team with a halftime ceremony. A few key players from that team called it a career recently. Special teams ace Matthew Slater retired at the end of the 2023 season, as did defensive back Logan Ryan. The 2022 season marked the final seasons for Brady and defensive back Devin McCourty.
There are a couple of players from the 2014 Patriots roster who have yet to retire, but remain free agents. Of note, safety Duron Harmon and offensive tackle Cam Fleming have been floating around as potential free agent signings for teams. Meanwhile, running back Brandon Bolden played for the Raiders in 2023 and has not indicated that he’s retiring.
Back in 2014, Garoppolo was a rookie second-round pick out of Eastern Illinois who was viewed as a possible heir to Brady’s job in New England. Things could get interesting for him soon after he started the season by serving a two-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.
Now, he could be on the trade market. With the Miami Dolphins facing multiple injuries at quarterback, Garoppolo’s name has been floated as a candidate to serve as an in-season replacement in Miami.
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