Patriots Practice Attendance: Chandler Jones Seen at Walkthrough

The New England Patriots' defensive line is getting healthy just in time for the stretch run to the playoffs.

Defensive end Chandler Jones (hip) was present at the start of the team's walkthrough inside the Dana-Farber Field House on Wednesday, according to reports.

Jones has missed the past four games with his injury. He pulled up lame, without contact, in a Thursday night game against the New York Jets in Week 7.

Jones' return to practice is a positive sign for his rehab from injury, but let's not read too much into it. Keep in mind, defensive tackle Sealver Siliga (foot) made his return to practice last week to watch a walkthrough, but has not yet been taken off of short-term injured reserve.

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http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...practice_attendance_chandler_jones_makes.html

I won't lie ... I felt a tingle.

My giny tingles.

Bedard will have to stock up on tissues for when he's back on the field.

Save him for the post season please.

This is wonderful news.

That... is ... awesome!

The good thing about his injury is that maybe the Pats realize that he doesn't have to play every down.

good news.

we'll need him for the playoffs! GOPATS

Excellent news and Fleming was spotted with out Walkin Boot.

Not expecting Chandler to make this 2 game road trip, but it's great news if he can get back to knock the rust off prior to the postseason. Definitely a step in the right direction.

good news. Can't see him playing this weekend.

FourierSeries said:

http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...practice_attendance_chandler_jones_makes.html

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It's been about 5-6 weeks so I would expect that he will stay back for the road trip and we will see him out there in week 15.

Brady6 said:

It's been about 5-6 weeks so I would expect that he will stay back for the road trip and we will see him out there in week 15.

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Seems like a pretty sensible timeline to me. If he was borderline good to go this week, rushing him a bit would maybe warrant consideration given that a win on Sunday, barring serious collapse, could borderline lock up the #1 seed in the AFC. But if there's any doubts--and it appears there are, which makes sense--I'm fine with holding him out. We should murder the Chargers with or without him anyway.

The Jones and Siliga news touches the two big items for the Patriots path to the SB: pass rush and depth.

Getting that added pass rush production from Jones is such a big deal. The Patriots current pass rush is not looking bad but appears to me their weakest area of potency on defense. But with the Rush D and Pass coverage D playing well, the improvement in pass rushing D doesn't require a big improvement to make a significant impact. So if Jones comes back healthy to step up the overall pass rush production just a bit, the Patriots D is going to be making more opposing offenses look bad.

The big unknown for how ready the Patriots will be for a SB run is injury. Injury toll is the reality of the NFL and the Patriots will suffer some injuries (ask the football gods for no one to be seriously hurt --- then ask for no Patriot IR injuries). Having depth like Siliga, with the potential rotation improvement also an obvious plus, to keep production satisfactory in case of injury is comforting to that always uncertain hope for a successful SB run.

He again attended the practice today and was limited. At this point I assume that he will make the extended trip with the team to GB and SD.

I don't think he will play in either game, but he won't lose any practice time, you keep the opponent guessing and also he will have somr of bonding time when they are away from home for a week.

luuked said:

He again attended the practice today and was limited. At this point I assume that he will make the extended trip with the team to GB and SD.

I don't think he will play in either game, but he won't lose any practice time, you keep the opponent guessing and also he will have somr of bonding time when they are away from home for a week.

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Today was a real practice too, not a walk through.

I think we need to reaess just how talented our Defensive line really is.

We have four First round picks Chandler Jones, Vince wilfork, Dom Eisley and Alan Branch (ok so he was really thef First pick in the Second.) We have another good starter in Rob Ninkovitch; and a spot starter in Akeem Ayers (who was a Second). DT depth includes a penetrator like Eisley, and Run Stuffer like Wilfork, in Chris jones and Sealver Silinga respectively.

The team can call on HIghtower, (FIrst) and Collins, (Second) as rush LBs too. We have to include Moore, Buchanan and even Bequette in the calculations too.

There really is no shortage of Pass Rushers, even though several are curently dinged up now. The Pass Rusk will improve as any combination of these players get healthy.

My only temporary Concern is the status on Dan Connoly for the Packers game. His loss could signal a return to the Offensive lines of Games 1-4.

It would be nice to also be able to overpower the Pack witha 6th lineman in Flemming too. He too is dinged. We just don't know how badly either is injured right now, except that both are listed as Limited Participants in Practice.

luuked said:

He again attended the practice today and was limited. At this point I assume that he will make the extended trip with the team to GB and SD.

I don't think he will play in either game, but he won't lose any practice time, you keep the opponent guessing and also he will have somr of bonding time when they are away from home for a week.

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All great news! I'm sure the team will not play him until they are as comfortable as possissible that he will not suffer a reaccurance of his injury.

AzPatsFan said:

We have four First round picks Chandler Jones, Vince wilfork, Dom Eisley and Alan Branch (ok so he was really thef First pick in the Second.) We have another good starter in Rob Ninkovitch; and a spot starter in Akeem Ayers (who was a Second). DT depth includes a penetrator like Eisley, and Run Stuffer like Wilfork, in Chris jones and Sealver Silinga respectively.

The team can call on HIghtower, (FIrst) and Collins, (Second) as rush LBs too. We have to include Moore, Buchanan and even Bequette in the calculations too.

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I don't think using round selected has much meaning immediately after being drafted. Did it help Jonathan Sullivan in NE that he was the 6th overall pick in 2013? Is Easley anywhere near Wilfork in production right now? Once Siliga returns and until Easley returns to full health, it is entirely possible that a 6th rounder and a UDFA play more snaps than either of your "first round" players. The fact that Branch and Ayers were basically available for nothing needs to come into play at some point, right?

Not that I don't agree it is a more well rounded group than we expected heading into the season (or other fans realize yet), just that I think a case could be made with more relevant facts.

AzPatsFan said:

His loss could signal a return to the Offensive lines of Games 1-4.

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Considering both Connolly and Stork were out against the substantially better DLs of Buffalo and NY, I'm not as concerned as you are.