Brandon LaFell, Bryan Stork return to practice, Shaq Mason, Jabaal Sheard among four absentees

Wednesdays are always when we find out who really got hurt last weekend and there was both good news and bad news today. The good – LaFell and Stork are back, and Slater was there too. The bad – Sheard, Cannon and Mason are MIA of significant starters. Sheard and Cannon are rumored to be minor but who knows if that will keep them out this week. Mason’s a surprise but it’s the time of year where it could be just the flu.

Cannon is important but I think the key guy this week is Hightower, who practiced all last week but still didn’t play. The Pats defense is just so much better with him in there, especially against the run. Freeny and Mayo just don’t have the juice to make an impact in that area right now, and Collins can’t do everything by himself. I think what we saw last week is why Hightower and Collins are so complimentary to each other.