On their first drive Sunday against the New York Jets, the New England Patriots saw yet another member of their offense leave the game with an injury.
At the tail end of a short run by Joey Iosefa, left tackle Sebastian Vollmer appeared to get his left leg rolled up on by Iosefa, and he remained down after the play. A cart was brought out to take Vollmer off the field. The Patriots announced via their official Twitter account that Vollmer is out for the game.
on replay, looked like Joey Iosefa landed on Vollmer's lower left leg
— shalise manza young (@shalisemyoung) December 27, 2015
Patriots tackle Sebastian Vollmer leaves on a cart, looks like a left leg injury.
— Jane McManus (@janesports) December 27, 2015
Team doctor holds on to Sebastian Vollmer's left foot/ankle as Vollmer's left leg is outstretched on the cart as he departs.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 27, 2015
#Patriots injury update: Vollmer, leg, out. #NEvsNYJ
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 27, 2015
Vollmer himself was filling in at left tackle, having flipped over from the right side when starter Nate Solder tore his pectoral during a Week 5 win over the Dallas Cowboys. He will likely be replaced by backup tackle Marcus Cannon, with Cameron Fleming coming onto the offensive line as well.
Vollmer's injury is just the latest in a long string of blows to the New England offense. In addition to Solder, the Pats have lost Dion Lewis to a torn ACL, Julian Edelman to a broken foot, LeGarrette Blount to an unspecified hip injury, Ryan Wendell to a knee injury and Danny Amendola to multiple knee injuries. Not one of their offensive linemen has appeared in all 15 games.
Still, they have a record of 12-2 and look fairly well set up to have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, which they can clinch with a win over the Jets on Sunday.
