The New England Patriots haven’t dealt with a tremendous amount of adversity this season, but they’ll be dealing with some when they face the New York Giants on Monday night in Foxborough, Mass.
New England (10-2) enters the matchup on a nine-game winning streak, but its offense will be without starting left tackle Will Campbell and starting left guard Jared Wilson.
Campbell, the fourth pick in the 2025 draft, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday after he reportedly sustained an MCL sprain last Sunday in the 26-20 victory over Cincinnati. He will miss at least the next four games. Wilson (ankle) will not play Sunday, New England coach Mike Vrabel told reporters Wednesday.
New England quarterback Drake Maye has been sacked 37 times this season — third most in the NFL — and Vrabel said New York’s defensive line presents plenty of challenges.
“I think 57 of the 66 quarterback hits come from those guys up front,” he said. “Three edge guys with (Brian) Burns, (Kayvon) Thibodeaux, (Abdul) Carter. Obviously what Big Dex (Dexter Lawrence II) can do inside and (Roy) Robertson-Harris. So, those guys are certainly impactful players that have to be accounted for every play. They rotate them through there pretty good, and so there’s a lot of juice there. There’s a lot of disruption.”
Through the first 12 games of this season, Maye leads the NFL with 3,130 passing yards and a 71.0 completion percentage. His 21 passing touchdowns rank fifth.
The Giants (2-10) are hoping to have rookie Jaxson Dart back at quarterback after he missed two games following a concussion he suffered against Chicago on Nov. 9. Dart threw for 10 touchdowns and had three passes intercepted in his first seven NFL starts. He was 19 of 29 for 242 yards against the Bears before his concussion. Jameis Winston was New York’s starting quarterback for its last two games.
Dart cleared concussion protocol on Thursday, but Lawrence (elbow) and Thibodeaux (shoulder) were both held out of practice Wednesday. Thibodeaux hasn’t played in New York’s past two games.
“If he’s healthy and cleared to go, then I’d like Jaxson Dart to play,” New York interim head coach Mike Kafka said last week of Dart’s return timeline. “Only if he’s healthy and ready to go, and that’s based on what the doctors say.”
The Giants will be seeking their first road victory since Week 5 of last season, when they beat Seattle 29-20. New York has lost 12 straight road games since then.
New York fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen on Monday, 12 games into his second season in that role. Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen was named as the interim replacement.
“The results just weren’t where we wanted them to be and so Charlie’s going to step up for us and rally the group,” Kafka said. “The defensive staff will rally around Charlie and put together a great plan. I got a lot of confidence in the room and a lot of confidence in our staff to do that.”
New York enters the game against the Patriots ranked 32nd among NFL teams in rushing defense, 23rd in passing defense and 30th in scoring defense.
In addition to Wilson, five other New England players did not practice Wednesday: tight end CJ Dippre (back), linebacker Harold Landry III (knee), offensive tackle Morgan Moses (illness), safety Brenden Schooler (ankle) and linebacker Jahlani Tavai (personal).
