Patriots

NFL insider says Patriots’ Christian Barmore avoided major injury

Preliminary tests reportedly provided good news about Barmore's status after the rookie left Sunday's game with a right leg injury on the Patriots' last defensive drive.

New England Patriots defensive end Christian Barmore (90) is helped off the field after going down on a play against the Miami Dolphins. Lynne Sladky / AP

By Khari Thompson

January 10, 2022

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Patriots’ fans hearts were likely in their throats watching rookie defensive lineman Christian Barmore struggle to get off the turf after chasing down Tua Tagovailoa late in Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.

The second-round pick reportedly couldn’t put weight on his right leg after stepping awkwardly and taking a big hit in pursuit of the quarterback, and ESPN’s Mike Reiss suggested Barmore could miss the playoffs.

Fortunately, preliminary tests on the injured leg are providing a slightly more positive view.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted Monday that an MRI on Barmore’s knee came back “clean” with no sign of major injury. Those results seemed to confirm initial diagnoses that indicted the defender’s injury was less serious than first imagined.

More good news: The MRI came back clean for Christian Barmore, source said. We’ll see on his practice status for this week, but no major injury revealed. https://t.co/iDki1kHOJf
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2022

Bill Belichick told WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” he was “hopeful” about Barmore’s and left tackle Isaiah Wynn’s (ankle) status. Though it’s unknown if Barmore can practice this week or play against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, these updates would seem not to rule that out completely.

There’s less clarity on Wynn’s injury outlook after he was also knocked from Sunday’s game. Backup tackle Justin Herron took over for Wynn to finish the game, but the Patriots might be better off making some changes to the offensive line group if their starter can’t play against Buffalo.