On Wednesday, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel announced that the following players would be inactive against the Chicago Bears (4-2) on Thursday night:
- OG Ben Brown (knee)
- OG Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring)
- CB Channing Canada (hamstring)
- CB Carlton Davis (neck)
- CB Karon Prunty (hamstring)
On Tuesday's injury report from the Patriots walkthrough practice, Brown and Vera-Tucker did not participate, so their game status being ruled as out for Thursday doesn't come as a surprise.
Mike Vrabel says that OGs Alijah Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown, and CBs Carlton Davis, Channing Canada and Karon Prunty will all be out tomorrow.
— Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports) October 21, 2026
Cornerback Depth Continues to be A Problem
The three cornerbacks listed, however, practiced in limited capacity and were seen at Wednesday's practice. Davis, the most prominent of the injured defensive backs, will now miss his third-straight game with a neck injury he's dealt with all season.
The Patriots cornerback room will include Christian Gonzalez, who returned to game action after missing two weeks last Sunday, Marcus Jones, Charles Woods, and Kindle Vildor.
With Chicago having a well-established passing attack, this positional group is essential to the Patriots gameplan in Week 7. Losing Davis, who lines up opposite of Gonzalez, for another week will make defending the pass difficult for New England's secondary.
Offensive Line Down to Their Last Resort
On the offensive line, injuries have become a part of this groups identity. Brown and Vera-Tucker are the third and fourth guards to miss time for the Patriots with both Mike Onwenu and Greg Van Roten on the injured reserve.
In Brown and Vera-Tucker's place, the Patriots will start Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor at guard. Pryor was signed on October 1st off of the Arizona Cardinals practice squad, and saw his first game action as a substitute on Sunday against the Jets, where he let up one pressure on 24 pass blocking snaps.
— Mike Sullivan (@msully5433) October 19, 2026Just some Matt Pryor stuff. #64 on the field, #8 on the Patriots depth chart. #1 in our hearts. Big dawg played well. And at 6'7" 345, I do mean big dawg in every sense of the word.
Let him fill in Thursday at RG and see what happens. I trust Doug Marrone to get him ready. pic.twitter.com/1AxYyggaub
Rouse was a trade acquisition late in training camp, coming from Minnesota. Rouse played just 14 snaps in last week's win against New York at left guard.
Additonally, this week, the Patriots resigned Jacob Rizy and Andrew Rupcich to their practice squad. It's likely that the team will elevate several of their practice squad linemen for Thursday's game.
On Tuesday, Vrabel said of his Week 7 starting guards, "It was fun to watch those guys take advantage of the opportunity. They helped us. There was a huge drive at the end of the game, to go down there and be able to take time off of the clock."
In addition to thinned out guards, the offensive tackle position is one to watch as Morgan Moses deals with a foot injury. His status for gametime is unknown at the moment, but rookie first-round pick Caleb Lomu is the next option at tackle.
"I think that Caleb will have to be ready to go at multiple positions," said Vrabel. "We were getting ready for him to have to be able to pull the ball in the game in a different scenario."
A big piece of the Patriots success over the past three weeks has been Drake Maye's protection. In that span, the third-year quarterback has only been sacked twice. If the Patriots hope to keep that trend alive and win on Sunday, they'll have to rely on the names listed deep in the depth chart.
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