The Patriots have lost Pro Bowl WR Wes Welker for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee that he injured against the Texans yesterday.  Welker played in 14 games this season for the Patriots and he caught 123 passes for 1,348 yards (11.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 36 yards (7.2 ypc) this year.  Rookie Julian Edelman will likely have to step up for the Patriots in Welker’s role of the tough guy over the middle.  Edelman has played in 11 games this season for the Patriots and he has caught 37 passes for 359 yards (9.7 avg) with a TD grab.  He has also carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc) this season.  This is a huge blow to the Patriots’ offense as Welker is Tom Brady’s security blanket in the passing game.

The Patriots have lost 23-year old back-up safety Bret Lockett for the year.  Lockett played in 10 games for the Patriots this season and he made 7 tackles and forced 1 fumble.  The Patriots have activated DL Titus Adams off the practice squad to replace Lockett on the roster.  The 26-year old Adams has not played in a game yet in his career.

The Patriots have lost rookie WR/KR Brandon Tate for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.  He only played in 2 games in his rookie season and he didn’t catch any passes.  He did carry the ball 1 time for 11 yards and he also returned 4 kickoffs for 106 yards (26.5 avg) this year.  Tate will be replaced by 28-year old WR Sam Aiken as the #3 WR for the Patriots the rest of the way.  He has played in 8 games for the Patriots this season and he has caught 9 passes for 139 yards (15.4 avg) with 1 TD grab. 

The New England Patriots will be without Sammy Morris for a couple of more weeks as he recovers from his torn MCL.  Morris has played in 6 games this season for the Patriots and he has carried the ball 30 times for 109 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 12 passes for 137 yards (11.4 avg) so far this season.  The Patriots can’t wait to get Morris back as Coach Belichick loves having depth at running back. 

The Patriots have lost defensive end Jarvis Green until at least early December after he underwent surgery on his knee last week.  Green has played in 7 games (all starts) for the Patriots so far this season and he has 18 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  The Patriots will likely use Mike Wright at DE while Green is out and he should do a decent job for them.