The New England Patriots will be without linebacker Jerod Mayo this weekend for the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos.
Mayo sustained a shoulder injury in last Saturday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs and was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.
The IR designation means Mayo also will not be eligible for the Super Bowl should the Patriots beat the Broncos on Sunday in Denver.
Mayo played in all 17 regular-season games this season and had 47 tackles, one sack and one pass defensed in a part-time role. He was injured during the third quarter against the Chiefs.
It’s the third straight year that Mayo’s season ended on IR. And with a $4 million contract bonus due in March if the team exercises its option, Mayo might have played his last game with the Patriots.
Of more immediate concern to the Patriots is the status of Pro Bowl linebacker Jamie Collins, who left last week’s game against the Chiefs with an oblique strain.
With Mayo sidelined, the Patriots are thin at linebacker with Jonathan Freeny, Darius Fleming and Jon Bostic behind Collins and Dont’a Hightower on the depth chart.
Edelman wants to fix mistakes
Wide receiver Julian Edelman missed seven-plus games to close out the regular season with a broken foot, a Jones’ fracture that required surgery. He’d been practice for a month on a limited basis before returning to game action in Saturday’s win over the Chiefs.
Though there was some rust — Edelman had a handful of drops, including one he nearly batted up to a potential pick-six interception Kansas City corner Sean Smith — the slot receiver hauled in an 11-yard reception to move the chains on New England’s first third down of the day. That drive continued toward an opening touchdown as Edelman boosted the passing attack with a game-high 10 catches for 100 yards.
“It felt good,” Edelman said of his return. “Any time you go out with your teammates and get a win in the Divisional Round against a really good football team, it feels good, so it’s one of those things that we’ve got a lot of work to do. Next game is going to be the toughest game of the year and you’ve got to get ready for it.”
He was, however, focused on fixing the mistakes he made.
“I dropped some balls that I shouldn’t of — trying to do stuff, trying to make a move before I caught it, but I just had to slow down and get back to the fundamentals and I’ll be working those out this week,” Edelman said. “That was just me trying to be too fast.”
Broncos want to pressure Brady
If the Denver Broncos are to disrupt Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, they must get the inside pass rush going.
It doesn’t matter if that is accomplished by moving Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware over the A-gaps from time to time or supplementing their three-technique defensive ends with blitzes from inside linebackers Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan.
“A lot of quarterbacks don’t like pressure up the middle, so it’s one of those things that you just have to keep doing that we’ve been doing all year,” said defensive end Malik Jackson. “We have a great rotation, me, (DE Derek) Wolfe, (NT Sylvester) ‘Sly’ (Williams), (DE) Antonio (Smith) and (DE) Vance Walker.
“It’s just a nice little rotation with everybody being fresh, trying to put pressure on them and run to the ball and make tackles.”
Against the Steelers on Sunday, Wolfe and Smith provided two of the Broncos’ three sacks. In the Week 12 win over New England, Wolfe and Walker had sacks from the inside.
Denver’s three-technique ends have combined for 17 sacks over the course of the season — an average of one per game.
“In my experience over the years, yeah, the quickest way to the quarterback is an inside guy winning,” said Smith. “It’s not as common as outside rushers winning, but if an inside guy wins or even gets pressure pushing the pocket back, that stops quarterbacks — stops him from being able to step up and really follow through his throws.”