32-year old starting center Dan Koppen broke one of his ankles last night.  The Patriots hope that he will be able to return at some point in 2011.  Koppen has played in 121 games (120 starts) in his first 9 years with the Patriots.  For now, the Patriots are going to start Dan Connolly at center.  He has played in 32 games (17 starts) in his first four years with the Patriots.  The Patriots will likely be looking for centers on the free agent market to give them some depth going forward.  This could be a big loss for the Patriots, but I look for them to overcome it.

UPDATE:  (9/13/2011) – The Patriots will be without Dan Koppen for the next 8-10 weeks.

UPDATE:  (9/21/2011) – The Patriots have placed Dan Koppen on the Injured Reserve List ending his season as he also had a fractured fibula along with his fractured ankle.

The Patriots have placed 24-year old DE Brandon Deaderick (shoulder), DT Ron Brace (elbow) and 35-year old RB Kevin Faulk (recovering from a torn ACL) on the PUP list.  That means they will each miss at least the first six games of the 2011 season.  Deaderick played in 10 games as a rookie for the Patriots last year and he had 10 tackles and 2 sacks.  Brace played in 13 games for the Patriots last year and he had 23 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  Kevin Faulk played in only 2 games for the Patriots last year and he carried the ball 8 times for 45 yards (5.6 ypc).  He also caught 6 passes for 62 yards (10.3 avg) for the Patriots last year.  The Patriots will miss all of these guys while they are out of action.  Although the Patriots have reloaded at RB, there is always a place for Kevin Faulk, who makes big plays when it really counts.

The Patriots have placed 25-year old OG Rich Ohrnberger on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a head injury.  Ohrnberger played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last year.  He has now played in 5 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Patriots.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Patriots, as Ohrnberger hasn’t shown too much in his first couple years on the job.

The Patriots have placed 28-year old DE Mike Wright on I.R., ending his season due to a concussion.  This is not good news for the Patriots as Wright was the team’s leader in sacks this year.  Wright played in 10 games for the Patriots this year and he had 14 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed.  Wright has now played in 80 games in his first six years with the Patriots and he has 133 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 3 passes defensed and 4 forced fumbles.  This will hurt the Patriots a bit as Wright was pretty much the best pass rusher on the team.

The Patriots have placed 24-year old DT Ron Brace on the  Injured Reserve List with an elbow injury.  Brace played in 9 games (2 starts) for the Patriots this year and he had 8 tackles.  Brace has now played in 22 games (7 starts) in his first two years with the Patriots and he has 31 tackles.  The Patriots just couldn’t wait for Brace to get healthy any longer with the playoffs starting.

The Patriots have placed 26-year old CB Jonathan Wilhite on the Injured Reserve List ending his season with a hip injury.  Wilhite played in 9 games for the Patriots this year and he had 20 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  Wilhite has now played in 39 games in his first three years with the Patriots and he has 93 tackles, 9 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.  The Patriots’ secondary has been playing better lately so they won’t likely miss Wilhite that much the rest of the year.

The Patriots have placed 34-year old guard Stephen Neal on the Injured Reserve List with a shoulder injury ending his season.  Neal played in 8 games (all starts) with the Patriots this year.  He has now played in 86 games (81 starts) in his 10 years with the Patriots.  You would think that Neal would be missed but with Logan Mankins back in the fold the Patriots are in good shape at guard.

The Patriots will be without kicker Stephen Gostkowski for the next couple of weeks due to a quad injury.  Gostkowski has nailed 10 of 13 field goals (76.9%) and all 26 of his extra points good for 56 points.  The Patriots will sign a kicker later this week so they won’t have to use Wes Welker to kick again this Sunday.  He was a perfect 1 for 1 on extra points against the Browns last weekend.

UPDATE:  (11/10/2010) – The Patriots have placed Stephen Gostkowski on the Injured Reserve List ending his season.

The Patriots have lost 34-year old RB Kevin Faulk for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.  Faulk played in the Patriots first two games in which he carried the ball 8 times for 45 yards (5.6 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 62 yards (10.3 avg).  BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Sammy Morris will likely have to step up behind Fred Taylor for the Patriots the rest of the year.  The Patriots will miss Faulk a lot in the passing game as he is the guy Tom Brady looks for out of the backfield.

The Patriots have placed CB Leigh Bodden, S Bret Lockett, S Josh Barrett and DE Darryl Richard on the Injured Reserve List ending their seasons.  Leigh Bodden is the only big loss of this bunch.  He played in 15 games (14 starts) for the Patriots last season and he had 55 tackles, he forced a fumble, defensed 18 passes and he had 5 interceptions (one of which he returned for a TD).  Bret Lockett played in 10 games as a rookie last season for the Patriots and he had 7 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  Josh Barrett was just claimed off waivers from the Broncos a couple of weeks ago despite him needing shoulder surgery.  He played in 14 games for the Broncos last season and he had 10 tackles.  DE Darryl Richard didn’t play in any games as a rookie for the Patriots last year.  He had 4 tackles this pre-season for the Patriots.