Maroney's injury is torn rib cartilage
FOXBOROUGH -- Rookie running back Laurence Maroney, who was knocked out of the Patriots' win over the Lions Dec. 3 and missed last week's loss to the Dolphins, has been sidelined because of torn rib cartilage, according to a league source.
Speaking with Houston reporters last week, coach Bill Belichick indicated Maroney's injury isn't season-ending.
"If it was that, then at this point a player like that we'd probably put him on injured reserve," Belichick said. "I think it's something that he's certainly making good progress. How quickly he'll be able to come back I'm not sure exactly, but he's doing a lot better now than he was a couple of days ago. He's doing a lot better over the weekend than he was in the middle of the week, so he's definitely headed in the right direction."
That's good news for the Patriots, who missed the playmaking ability of Maroney in the 21-0 loss in Miami. Maroney's 812 yards from scrimmage lead the team. He is listed as questionable for today's game, giving him a 50-50 chance of suiting up, and is one of 10 players listed as questionable, a group that includes tight end Benjamin Watson (knee) and nose tackle Vince Wilfork (ankle). All three players were limited in practice in the days leading up to the game.
"I just want to be on the field and playing, [doing] whatever I can do to help the team," he said. "It wouldn't hurt if I could get in there and argue my point a little bit. I think I argued the point on Sunday."
Maroney has been the Patriots' top kickoff returner (27 for a 28.7-yard average). If he doesn't play, that could put Hobbs in the mix along with Kevin Faulk, the team's other primary returner.
"I don't know what I would have done without him," said first-year Texans coach Gary Kubiak, who had coached with Sherman at Texas A&M in the early 1990s. "Here's a guy in the situation that he went through and the job that he did in Green Bay was second to none. Mike didn't have to be coaching this year. He chose to come here and fight this fight with us and help us try to get this thing going. He's done a great job with those young guys up front, as many problems as we've had up front injury-wise, the young players, he's held them together and had some of those young players going in the right direction.
"Mike's a big-time coach and an even better person. I know he won't be here very long. He should be a head coach in this league, and I know he will be again real soon."
Christopher L. Gasper of the Globe staff contributed to this report. ![]()