The Patriots hope offensive lineman Cole Strange will play before the end of the season. Strange suffered a knee injury at the end of last season and is working on a position switch. Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Time is running out in the 2024 season for New England Patriots offensive linemen Cole Strange and Caedan Wallace to return from injuries.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo and offensive line coach Scott Peters didn’t want to put a timetable on either player’s return, but the team does seem hopeful that both players can return to the field this season.

Strange, who’s been focused on switching from guard to center, is on the 53-man roster after being activated from the PUP list earlier this month. He tore his patellar tendon over a year ago in Week 15 of the 2023 season.

“He’s quick, he’s strong, he’s athletic, he can pull, a smart guy,” Peters said Friday about what he likes about Strange at center. “He can run the show there. I think it’s for him, he has all the attributes you want. I think it’s just kind of now refining and getting him more comfortable.”

Strange primarily played guard and tackle in college at Chattanooga before being selected by the Patriots in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He did take some snaps at center in the 2022 Senior Bowl, but in two seasons with the Patriots, he’s only played left guard.

The Patriots currently have rookie fourth-round pick Layden Robinson in that spot, and the team’s highest-paid offensive lineman, Mike Onwenu, at right guard. Ben Brown has been the team’s top center since being signed off the Raiders’ practice squad in October.

Wallace, the team’s 2024 third-round pick, is still on injured reserve because of an ankle injury suffered in Week 4, but he has been back at practice since Dec. 9. Peters said the team is getting him comfortable at right tackle, his college position, before integrating him on both sides.

Wallace played four games this season at left tackle and jumbo tight end before getting injured. The team has been starting Demontrey Jacobs for most of the season at right tackle.

“He’s looking better, too,” Peters said of Wallace. “You spend quite a bit of time off, you get injured, and your body has to get back. You kind of have to harden your body a little bit. But he’s been incrementally taking more reps, so he’s looking better and better.”

Ideally, the Patriots would like to see what they have in Strange and Wallace for the 2025 season before this year is over. But they have just three more games left in the season, and Mayo implied the team would be sticking with Vederian Lowe, Robinson, Brown, Onwenu and Jacobs as their top unit Sunday against the Bills.

MAYO SAYS THERE’S been no discussion about defensive tackle Christian Barmore’s future beyond helping him return to health after landing on the reserve non-football illness list.

The team didn’t specify why the 25-year-old was placed on the season-ending list ahead of Sunday’s visit to Buffalo, saying in a statement Thursday “he experienced some recurring symptoms that required further evaluation.”

Barmore missed the first 10 games of the season after being diagnosed with blood clots early in training camp. He made his season debut in the Patriots’ 28-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 17. He appeared in each of New England’s past four games, notching six tackles and a sack.

“I feel for Bar,” Mayo said. “He did everything right, and for those things to pop back up, just unfortunate. I look at these guys as men first before football players, and there’s nothing more important than the health of our individuals.”

On the heels of a 2023 season that included a career-best 81/2 sacks and 65 tackles, this spring Barmore signed a four-year contract extension worth up to $92 million.

His absence for most of the season has been felt on a defense that ranks 28th in the NFL with 27 sacks.

Mayo said there’s been no discussion of how this latest medical setback could impact Barmore’s football future.

“We’re not having those conversations right now. It’s again just about getting him healthy now,” Mayo said.

Barmore’s salary is just $1,822,128 this season. It jumps up to $10 million next season when the extension fully kicks in.

He registered six tackles with a sack in four games this season after a breakout 2023 campaign that saw him emerge as one of the Patriots’ best players.