If there’s one thing you hate to see in August it’s season-ending injuries.
Unfortunately Derek Rivers’ situation took a turn for the worse on Friday.
The Patriots are optimistic that Derek Rivers avoided a significant injury, but tests aren’t done yet. Still, the early word is positive.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 16, 2017
From @MikeReiss & I: the Patriots fear their top draft pick DE Derek Rivers has suffered a season-ending knee injury, per league sources.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 18, 2017
So yeah, I was already a little concerned about the defensive front seven as you might’ve read here or here and if Rivers is gone for all of 2017 it certainly doesn’t help matters.
In recent days I was excited to hear about Rivers’ emergence at camp. He was far better the second time I took a glance at his Jacksonville game. I felt like he could be a key contributor on third down and really help fill the vacated roles of Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard.
It looks like Dietrich Wise will be okay, and I expect him to be the day one starter at the base left defensive end position. If he and Flowers stay healthy (and play good obvs) the defense should be just fine overall.
But where the loss of Rivers hurts most is on those vital third downs, especially in the playoffs, when the more “pass rushers” you have the better. The Patriots 2016 defense featured multiple players who could either be rushing or dropping. It gave them a good ability to confuse the smarter quarterbacks.
It’s getting harder and harder to do that now after two FA departures, a retirement, a crappy camp and an ACL tear.
Now, a lot falls on Flowers and an opportunity is there for guys like Ealy and Grissom. They’ll have to lean on guys like McClellan, Freeny and Van Noy (gulp). Rookies Wise and (maybe) Butler must rise to the occasion.
While it will be fun to see some new players get chances and emerge, the lack of experience isn’t ideal. Will they deliver in big spots? That might determine how good this defense can be.
Sign Paul Kruger now…see what he has left in the tank.
Ingram had injuries early in his career and still turned into a stud in SD. I think Derek Rivers can still be a stud pass rusher (10+ sacks/season) it will just have to wait another year. ACL isn’t as detrimental as it once was. I have confidence he’ll return even better.
But for now, it hurts. I hope they grab Freeney and make some trades for OLB/DE.