New England Patriots running back Dion Lewis suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season, according to reports Monday.
An MRI performed Monday revealed the full extent of Lewis’ injury. Lewis was injured with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter of Sunday’s 27-10 win over the Washington Redskins.
Lewis was making a cut at the end of a 14-yard run. He was tended to on the field and walked off on his own power, with a slight limp and went straight to the locker room. Lewis totaled 14 yards on four runs and also caught four passes for 39 yards in the game.
Lewis, 25, joined the Patriots during the offseason. He signed a two-year extension with the Patriots in October that with incentives could be worth approximately $5 million, according to ESPN.com.
Lewis finishes the season with 234 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 49 carries in seven games. He also had 36 receptions for 388 yards and two touchdowns.
Some takeaways about the Patriots from Sunday’s game:
— It doesn’t matter how many offensive linemen go down, the Patriots will just keep on winning. They activated center Bryan Stork and placed lineman Ryan Wendell on IR in time for Sunday’s game, then, with six linemen dressed, saw left tackle Sebastian Vollmer go down with a head injury. That sent Stork in at tackle and Cameron Fleming over to left tackle, which Vollmer was playing since Nate Solder was lost for the season with torn biceps. Linemen Marcus Cannon and Tre’ Jackson were also inactive for the game.
— Kicker Stephen Gostkowski may never miss another field goal, especially at home. OK, the two he kicked on Sunday were short, but he has made 28 in a row and has made his last 51 at Gillette Stadium. He needs two more field goals to break Adam Vinatieri’s club record of 263 made field goals.
— These guys can kill you even when Rob Gronkowski doesn’t do much damage. The tight end, probably the most difficult guy to handle in the league, was targeted only five times on Sunday, catching four passes for 47 yards. He had another catch called back by a holding penalty.
— QB Tom Brady is 52 of 77 over his last two games, but Sunday he was guilty of his first true interception of the season — leaving him hiding his head in the turf after being in on the tackle. His other interception was a ball dropped by Julian Edelman into a pick. Brady missed his 70th career 300-yard game by a yard.
— RB LeGarrette Blount was the workhorse on Sunday, carrying the ball 29 times for 129 yards and a touchdown in the easy win. It was his 10th career 100-yard rushing game and his first since Sept. 11, 2014, while with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since 2000, the Patriots are 44-1 when a New England player runs for 100 yards or more. “You can’t arm tackle that guy,” said Washington defensive end Ricky Jean Francois. “I tried to arm tackle him a few times and I just slid from the top to the bottom.”
— WR Brandon LaFell looked years removed from the receiver who dropped six passes in his Oct. 25 return from injury. Sunday, he caught five passes and showed great running ability in piling up 102 yards — his fifth career 100-yard receiving game. “I actually felt good today,” he said. “My foot felt pretty good during warmups. It wasn’t giving me a lot of pain like it usually does. Brady came and found me early and often and I got into a good rhythm today. Just played well today.”
— WR Julian Edelman had an 8-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring on Sunday. It was his seventh TD of the season (in eight games), snapping his personal high of six, set in 2013. Asked after the game about teammate/RB Dion Lewis suffering a knee injury, Edelman said, “It’s terrible to see anyone go down, especially Dion. We don’t know necessarily what it is. Dion has been having a great year. He’s a great asset to the team.”