The Patriots‘ lack of a legitimate pass rushing defensive end is a serious weakness, Albert Breer of The MMQB (video link) opines. The Pats lost third-round pick Derek Rivers for the season and Breer hears that trade acquisition Kony Ealy hasn’t looked all that sharp in practice. With a lack of depth at defensive end, Breer believes that the Patriots will be looking into some out-of-house options.
This year, there will be more than 1,000 players available when rosters are cut down from 90 to 53. There will be a good number of edge rushers in that group and a handful of them should be of interest to New England.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- There is a good chance that Kraig Urbik won’t be able to play in the Dolphins‘ opener as he deals with a knee issue, Adam Beasley of The Miami Herald writes. That’s problematic for Miami since Urbik was supposed to start in place of injured left guard Ted Larsen.
- New Bills wide receiver Jordan Matthews has a chip fracture in his sternum, but he says he’ll be ready to go for the season opener (via The Associated Press). “I want to go out there and prove myself to my teammates. I want them to know that I’m tough, and I want them to know that I’m not the type of guy that wants to miss practice and just be there for games.” Matthews said. “I’m extremely confident I will be ready to play for Week 1.” Since being selected in the 2014 draft, Matthews led Philly receivers with a combined 225 catches, 2,873 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’ll be counted on for major production after the team jettisoned Sammy Watkins and saw Anquan Boldin retire over the weekend.
- On Monday, two Jets starters learned that they will not be punished by the league for their role in a dustup at a summer concert.