FOXBORO — For the second-straight week, the New England Patriots might be down two members of their secondary.
Ahead of their Week 6 matchup with the New York Jets, cornerbacks Carlton Davis and Karon Prunty were both absent from the Patriots' third practice of the week on Friday. Davis, who's dealing with a neck injury that held him out of the team's Week 2 win earlier in the season, also missed last week's game.
Prunty is working through a hamstring injury. He's played in three games so far, primarily as a special teamer.
This news shouldn't come as a surprise, as they missed each of the last three practices last week as well. The Patriots have been banged up in the secondary, and succeeded a week ago against the Las Vegas Raiders — rolling out Marcus Jones, Charles Woods and Kindle Vildor at cornerback.
Now they'll get back Christian Gonzalez (shoulder) and Channing Canada (hamstring), who both missed Week 5 with injuries.
The Patriots secondary had a solid outing against the Raiders, and could now have a good showing against a Jets team that will be down Adonai Mitchell. Vildor, who was signed to the 53-man roster last weekend, stepped up in a larger role. With Davis potentially not on the field, he may need to do the same thing again.
"He gets a PBU, gets a big punch out there, changes the momentum, helps us get the drive stopped," Mike Vrabel said this week on Vildor. "I think one of the coaches was talking and said, 'Well, he had a mental error on the play, but he also had an extra effort.'
"And so, I think that's really defines what we want our identity to be, is that the ability to have an error or a mistake, but also the ability to go finish, still impact the play and know that a mental error doesn't have to necessarily mean that the play is over or a mistake. It certainly doesn't limit our ability to finish."
Safeties Mike Brown and Jaylen Reed will be the top replacements for Prunty on special teams, as they've done in recent weeks. Defensive tackle Cory Durden, who missed Thursday's session with an illness, returned one day later.
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Last week, the Patriots were down Gonzalez and also lost running back TreVeyon Henderson and offensive tackle Will Campbell mid-game. They've all been present at practices this week in limited capacities, and Gonzalez was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday.
After Henderson and Campbell both went down against Las Vegas, their statuses for this week were in jeopardy. Now, they could end up suiting up.
"Guys are playing through stuff and that’s kind of the mentality," Drake Maye said this week on Campbell. "(Need) to be smart, but at the same time you wanna be out there with your guys. That’s an example of what Will is, and you go to battle with those guys."
The Patriots also designated wide receiver A.J. Brown to return from IR this week. He might not be activated for this game, but his return to practice is a good sign for this offense.
Vrabel will speak to the media after practice ends around 1 p.m. and will likely give updates on who'll be on the final injury report of the week.
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