The loss of Wright hurts on a couple of levels. First, Wright is the team’s best interior pass rusher — in only 10 games, his 5.5 sacks were best on the team. Vince Wilfork has started to emerge as a pass-rushing threat up the middle the last few weeks, but Wright’s ability to get a consistent push up the middle will be hard to replicate.
Second, the loss of Wright will render the depth along the defensive line even thinner. This is a group that is getting great play from the likes of Wilfork and fellow veteran Gerard Warren, but because of injuries to Ty Warren, Ron Brace, Darryl Richard and Kade Weston (who have all gone on injured reserve), as well as injuries to Myron Pryor (who has struggled with a back problem) and a suspension to youngster Brandon Deaderick, they have been forced to acquire players like Landon Cohen, Atiyyah Ellison and Eric Moore in an attempt to add depth. This also means more will be expected of rookie Kyle Love, who has started to play well as of late.
Wright is the 14th New England player to be placed on injured reserve since the start of training camp, a group that includes Warren, cornerback Leigh Bodden, safety Brandon McGowan, offensive linemen Nick Kaczur and Stephen Neal, kicker Stephen Gostkowski and running back Kevin Faulk.
