FOXBORO, Mass. — Some leftover notes and nuggets from Thursday’s New England Patriots media availability at Gillette Stadium:
— There was no change to the Patriots’ injury report Thursday.
Starting right tackle Marcus Cannon missed his second consecutive day of practice as he recovers from a concussion suffered during Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The same 10 players were limited in practice:
DT Malcom Brown – Knee
WR Julian Edelman – Heel
WR Josh Gordon – Hamstring
DE Geneo Grissom – Ankle
TE Rob Gronkowski – Ankle
TE Jacob Hollister – Hamstring
RB Sony Michel – Knee
CB Eric Rowe – Groin
DE John Simon – Shoulder
DE Deatrich Wise Jr. – Ankle/Knee
Meanwhile, New England’s upcoming opponent, the Chicago Bears, are dealing with injuries to high-profile players on offense and defense.
Khalil Mack, one of the NFL’s premier edge rushers, has yet to practice this week after injuring his ankle Sunday during an overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins. Bears coach Matt Nagy on Wednesday described Mack’s status as “day to day” and said the team will take a cautious approach to his recovery.
Likely hindered by his injury, Mack was held without a sack Sunday for the first time in five games this season.
Chicago wide receiver Allen Robinson also sat out practice Thursday with a groin injury that limited him during Wednesday’s session. Robinson, who spent the last four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, has caught 24 passes on 38 targets for 281 yards and two touchdowns this season, ranking second on the team in both catches and receiving yards behind fellow wideout Taylor Gabriel.
— The Patriots allowed an alarming number of big plays — 67-yard touchdown, 75-yard touchdown, 97-yard kickoff return — in the second half of their win over the Chiefs, nearly costing themselves the game.
They cannot afford a similar performance against the Bears, who have ripped off 17 plays of 20-plus yards in their last two games alone, including four of 40-plus.
“We can’t not do one thing or another thing, or that will lead to the big play,” safety Devin McCourty said. “I think that’s usually what it comes down to. It’s either going to be one where we didn’t take a guy where we needed to take a guy or stay, or a missed tackle. So I think we always try to watch those and fix them, and this offense is the same way. They kill you with a big play, it’s going to hurt and they have a lot of guys that can do that. We’ve got to do the same thing mentality-wise and not give up those big plays.
“We did it for a half last week. We’ve got to do that for 60 minutes.”
Defensive end Trey Flowers also said the defense is focused on limiting big plays. He believes it’s impossible to eliminate them altogether, though.
“It’s always concerning, but it’s the NFL,” Flowers said. “You’re dealing with high-powered offenses that have great skill guys on the other end. So when you’re giving up big plays like that — obviously, you don’t want to do it — but sometimes you’ve just got to tip your hat to them.
“But you want to limit those plays as much as possible through technique, fundamentals and things like that. You don’t want to give them anything. But if they just make a play, they make a great play.”
