The Patriots suffered a huge blow Friday when they announced they have placed defensive lineman Ty Warren on season-ending injured reserve with a hip injury.
Warren participated in the first three practices of New England's training camp, but he had missed the last 19 sessions. This is a Friday the 13th horror show for a team that is plugging in different pieces to fill around Vince Wilfork. A combination of Mike Wright, Gerard Warren, Damione Lewis and Myron Pryor has played a significant role on the defensive line since Warren went down.
"Tough break for Ty, but we have to move on," head coach Bill Belichick said. "He's missed quite a bit of time the last couple years, so we've had to deal with that anyway. It's unfortunate, but it's part of the game. We'll just move ahead."
For speculation purposes, it sounds like Warren was wrestling with the idea of undergoing hip surgery. Belichick said they gathered information from various sources, and they weren’t sure if Warren would come back soon or not at all. Warren might have been able to play through the injury, but it probably would have had long-term effects that might not have been able to be corrected by surgery.
The Patriots also announced they have reinstated outside linebacker Derrick Burgess to the active roster. Burgess had been considering retirement throughout training camp, and it is actually mildly surprising to see him return to football. His return will bolster the thinnest position along the Patriots' defense.
Belichick said Burgess arrived at Gillette Stadium on Friday morning and passed his conditioning test and physical, and he'll be on the field when the Patriots practice next, which is Sunday.
"Derrick is a very knowledgeable pass rusher," Belichick said. "He has a good understanding of his opponents, pass-rush technique, how to defeat blockers, how to specifically defeat individual blockers based on their strengths and weaknesses, and how he matches up against them."
