The New England Patriots are missing key pieces on both sides of the ball with receiver Jakobi Meyers and safety Kyle Dugger leading the list of inactives heading into Sunday’s home opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
It was already going to be an uphill battle for a Patriots team pegged as 2.5-point underdogs, following their nail-biter of a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.
The hope is that they can exploit the Ravens’ vulnerable defensive secondary, but that task is going to be much harder to achieve with Meyers watching from the sidelines.
Dugger being absent on the other side makes slowing down Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and tight end Mark Andrew a far more daunting task.
Patriots inactives. pic.twitter.com/zBv4asZLmI
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 25, 2022
The good news for the Patriots is safety Joshuah Bledsoe is returning from his groin injury and making his regular season debut against the Ravens. His timing is perfect with Dugger being out and Adrian Phillips banged up.
Expect to see plenty of Jabrill Peppers in the defensive backfield on Sunday as well.
