The Patriots will be short-handed at cornerback when they take on the Colts in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday with J.C. Jackson not traveling with the team, a source confirmed.
“With questions about his reliability, the decision was made to have him stay home, get through … and return in a better place,” NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday morning.
Jackson didn’t play the first two defensive series in Sunday’s loss to the Commanders. He was late to the team hotel on Saturday before the game, sources told the Boston Herald.
Shaun Wade started in Jackson’s place. Cornerback Jack Jones also didn’t play for the entire first quarter.
Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said after Sunday’s game that Jackson and Jones were not benched. Oddly, Belichick praised Jackson on a Monday morning conference call.
“It’s been a transition (from Los Angeles). I think his off-field training and physical health and conditioning – conditioning has definitely improved,” Belichick said. “So, he’s done a good job working at that. Just the consistency in the secondary from everybody is something we need to do a better job of.”
Elsewhere on the practice field, Trent Brown was absent as he continues to nurse injuries to both his ankle and knee. He missed the Commanders game, and the ankle injury was giving him a really hard time the weekend before in Miami.
ADRIAN KLEMM, the Patriots’ offensive line coach, will not travel with team to Germany and Belichick confirmed he will be out “a little while” with a health issue.
Belichick was initially asked what was keeping Klemm out before confirming it was health-related.
“Do you want to put him on the injury report? I mean, are you trying to get me to violate HIPAA laws and that kind of thing? I’m not going to comment on someone’s personal medical status,” Belichick said.“I appreciate the question, but I’m just not going to do that. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. I don’t know if I’m allowed to do it. So, I’ll just skip over that one.”
EAGLES: Starting middle linebacker Nakobe Dean has a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot and will be out of the lineup indefinitely, according to multiple sources.
Dean, a third-round draft pick out of Georgia in 2022, previously spent time on injured reserve this season with an injury to his right foot.
CARDINALS: Arizona designated running back James Conner to return from the injured list, opening a three-week practice window.
He must play by Nov. 29 or miss the rest of the season.
Conner missed four games after injuring his knee against Cincinnati in Week 5 and had 364 yards and two touchdowns in five starts before the injury.
COWBOYS: Dallas signed receiver Martavis Bryant to their practice squad, ending a five-year absence from the NFL for a player who has been suspended three times.
Bryant last played in 2018 with the Raiders.
He was indefinitely suspended over substance-abuse violations late that season.
VIKINGS: Minnesota designated wide receiver Justin Jefferson for return from injured reserve, bringing the 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year back to practice with three weeks to assess the readiness of his strained right hamstring for game action.
COLTS: Matt Ulrich, a former NFL player who was on the Indianapolis Super Bowl XLI winning team, has died at age 41.
A cause of death was not immediately revealed. An online fundraiser was created for his family.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
