Romeo Doubs’ sixth game as a member of the New England Patriots was a brief affair. The offseason signing played only two snaps, the second of which a 42-yard touchdown catch that saw him remain down with a shoulder injury.
The ailment kept him out of the remainder of the game, and will now sideline him for a minimum of four additional contests: as the team announced on Monday, Doubs has been placed on injured reserve. This means the Patriots will be without their high-prized free agency signing against the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, if not longer.
What else does the move mean for New England? Let’s assess.
Momentum stalled
Doubs started his Patriots tenure with an underwhelming performance in Seattle, but he has since managed to turn a corner and develop a nice rapport with quarterback Drake Maye.
Including his one reception on Sunday against the New York Jets, he now sits at 14 catches that he took for a team-leading 261 yards and three touchdowns. His 18.6 yards per catch rank second behind only Kyle Williams’ 24.5 and his 11 first downs are third, trailing Hunter Henry’s 13 and DeMario Douglas’ 12.
For at least the next four games, however, Doubs will not be able to add to those numbers. He also will not be able to continue building his chemistry with Maye, which looked promising in recent weeks.
Wide receiver turnover continues
The Patriots just activated A.J. Brown off injured reserve after his four-week stint on the list due to a high ankle sprain, but the team’s new-found depth at wide receiver was short-lived. The pair shared just two snaps together before Doubs was lost to injury.
The shoulder issue that will keep him out for at least the next four games is the latest blow to New England’s continuity at the position. Two weeks ago, Mack Hollins was also sent to IR due to a calf injury he sustained in the team’s win in Buffalo; he will be eligible to return after the Week 8 game in Miami.
And so, for the time being, New England’s receiver group looks like this:
53-man roster (4): A.J. Brown (1), DeMario Douglas (3), Kyle Williams (18 | KR), Efton Chism III (86)
Practice squad (4): Kyle Dixon (83), Cameron Dorner (88), Chandler Brayboy (81), Ryan Miller (—)
IR (2): Romeo Doubs (87), Mack Hollins (13), Jeremiah Webb (29 | season-ending)
The Patriots played one game under similar circumstances so far: in Week 5 against the Raiders, they also only had four wide receivers on their active roster. Back then, the team actually opted not to elevate any extra depth. from the practice squad and instead relied on the tight end position — especially rookie Eli Raridon — to help pick up the slack.
New England might use a similar approach in the near future, and at least until Mack Hollins is eligible for a return.
Pressure on A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown’s first game back from injured reserve was a disappointment. He did catch three passes for 27 yards, but did so on 10 total targets while also dropping two would-be touchdowns.
With Doubs now out, the Patriots will need him to be better. While Brown alone won’t have to carry the load offensively, he might be the single most important X-factor when it comes to New England maintaining its current form on that side of the ball. If he can step up, the transition from Doubs to him as WR1 should go rather smoothly, despite the two being different player types; if not, the team could be running into some problems in the very near future.
Despite his underwhelming comeback, the Patriots are optimistic.
“A.J. has high expectations for himself, and we have high expectations for him as well,” said head coach Mike Vrabel on Sunday. “[I’m] confident that he’ll come back, do a lot of things and help us here the rest of the season.”
Bad injury luck continues
The Patriots have been decimated by injuries this year, and just six weeks into the season have already been forced to rely on their depth at multiple spots in the lineup. On offense alone, they are currently without fullback Reggie Gilliam, wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins, tight end Julian Hill, and right guard Mike Onwenu, plus his replacement among the starters, Greg Van Roten.
They also saw A.J. Brown miss four games, both left tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson get shaken up a week ago. In addition, there are question marks over three O-linemen — Morgan Moses, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Ben Brown — after they were unable to finish the Jets game on Sunday.
In total, the Patriots have now placed 20 different players on injured reserve dating back to Hill’s season-ending injury in the offseason. That does not include Harold Landry and Brenden Schooler spending time on the PUP and NFI lists, respectively, nor others such as Christian Gonzalez or Craig Woodson missing time due to injury.
Long story short, it has been a challenging season so far for the Patriots and continues to be just that.
Salary cap changes
As part of the four-year, $68 million contract he signed with the Patriots in March, Doubs agreed to per-game roster bonuses totaling $1.7 million. At least four installments of those bonuses totaling $400,000 will not be earned now while he is on injured reserve.
Considering that those bonuses were classified as likely to be earned after he played all 17 games for the Packers last season, the Patriots are set to receive a credit on their 2027 salary cap. Doubs’ cap number for next season will therefore decrease by $400,000 or more, depending on how much time he will actually end up missing either on IR or as a game-day inactive. Unless there are any adjustments, that number is currently set to be no higher than $18.2 million.
Furthermore, Doubs might have some trouble getting his up to $3 million in not-likely-to-be-earned contract incentives for this season. He has $750,000 each on the line for 70 catches, 80 catches, 1,000 receiving yards and 1,200 receiving yards. His currently-projected 2027 cap number will only change in case he does manage to unlock those incentive escalators.
Favorable timing
It may be the dimmest of silver linings, but the timing of Doubs’ trip to injured reserve actually works out relatively well for the Patriots. With their bye coming up after the Lions game in Germany — i.e. the fourth and theoretically final game he will miss — they would have an extra week to get him up to speed before actually playing another game. Yes, we are grasping at straws here, thanks for asking.
Opportunity earned
Doubs’ spot on the 53-man roster went to safety Elliott Davison, who was elevated from the practice squad to the game day team each of the last two weeks. With now six safeties on the active roster, this gives New England some extra depth in the secondary and flexibility with nickel and dime packages as well as on special teams:
53-man roster (6): Kevin Byard (31), Craig Woodson (4), Jaylen Reed (23), Brenden Schooler (41), Mike Brown (33), Elliott Davison (27)
IR (1): Dell Pettus (24)
For Davison, who had one practice squad elevation left, the move also comes with a serious bay pump. After earning a weekly salary of $13,750 on the developmental team, he is now up to $49,166.67 — a 258% increase.