Patriots vs Texans inactives: No major surprises as Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett return

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Let’s find out who will miss today’s game.

In not even 90 minutes, the New England Patriots will play their 12th game of the 2019 regular season, trying to improve their record to 11-1: the team will square off on the road against the Houston Texans, who are entering today’s contest with a 7-4 record. Before getting ahead of ourselves, however, let’s take a look at the players on both sides who have been declared inactive and will therefore not participate in today’s contest:

Patriots inactives

OT Korey Cunningham

QB Cody Kessler

RB Damien Harris

OG Jermaine Eluemunor

CB Jason McCourty

DT Byron Cowart

TE Ryan Izzo

The Patriots entered the weekend with 18 players listed on their injury report, and one of them — second-year tight end Ryan Izzo — already ruled out. Cornerback Jason McCourty and defensive tackle Byron Cowart later joined him after not making the trip to Houston, with four more players being deactivated today. Of those four, however, only one was questionable to play: backup interior offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor (illness).

The rest of New England’s inactives are currently little more than depth options: Korey Cunningham is the fourth offensive tackle, Cody Kessler the third quarterback, and Damien Harris the fifth running back. With the exception of McCourty, who will again be replaced in the starting lineup by J.C. Jackson, the Patriots are therefore at full strength heading into the game despite just two days ago releasing their longest injury list of the season.

This means that wide receivers Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dorsett will also be back in the lineup after missing last week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys because of ankle and head injuries, respectively. Their return should help a New England offense that has struggled in recent weeks and had to rely heavily on rookie pass catchers N’Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers during the win over the Cowboys.

Texans inactives

WR Steven Mitchell

WR Keke Coutee

CB Gareon Conley

CB Cornell Armstrong

LB Brennan Scarlett

DT Carlos Watkins

DE Angelo Blackson

All three of the Texans’ players listed as questionable on Friday were deactivated for today’s game: defensive lineman Angelo Blackson (shoulder), linebacker Brennan Scarlett (shoulder) and cornerback Gareon Conley (hip).

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