The Patriots made two roster moves that directly affect Sunday’s Raiders game, placing WR Mack Hollins and FB Reggie Gilliam on injured reserve on Saturday. Both players will be out for at least four games, thinning New England’s available depth four weeks into the season.
Hollins suffered a non-contact calf injury in the third quarter of last week’s win over the Bills, while Gilliam had been dealing with a knee injury since training camp before hurting his ankle in Week 4. The result is a Patriots offense and special-teams picture that has changed quickly in a short span, with the team now forced to adjust again before heading to Gillette Stadium.
What the injuries mean for New England
The move leaves the Patriots without two players who had been available for recent games, and it also adds to a growing injury list. The Patriots have now placed A.J. Brown and Hollins on injured reserve four weeks into the season, a sign that the team has already had to manage significant roster turnover early in the year.
Saturday also brought more bad news in the secondary. The Patriots ruled out four cornerbacks heading into Week 5, continuing a stretch in which multiple cornerback absences have made the depth chart even tighter before Sunday’s matchup with the Raiders.
That matters because the Patriots are scheduled to play in Foxborough with fewer options at multiple spots. With Hollins and Gilliam unavailable for at least four games and the cornerback group already short-handed, the team will need to lean on remaining healthy players to cover more ground against the Raiders.
For now, the headline is simple: the Patriots are heading into Sunday with fewer bodies and less flexibility than they had at the start of the week. The injured reserve moves for Hollins and Gilliam, along with the cornerback absences, leave New England with a thinner margin for error in Week 5.
