FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots lost a key member of their offense and their organization as a whole Monday when fullback James Develin landed on injured reserve.
Develin, who missed his first game in four years Sunday, must sit out at least the next eight games as he recovers from a neck injury. Special teams captain Matthew Slater explained how significant a blow this development is to the Patriots’ locker room.
“I’ve never had a better teammate in 12 years of football,” Slater said. “He’s the best teammate I’ve ever been around, barring none. He’s a tremendous human being, but he’s always been about putting this team first. He’s always been about sacrificing for the greater good. And when you talk about everything this organization hopes to stand for, nobody embodies it better than James.”
Unless the Patriots, who utilize a fullback more than almost any other NFL team, decide to completely remove the position from their offense, German rookie Jakob Johnson will fill Develin’s role until the Pro Bowler returns.
Johnson was promoted from the practice squad ahead of the Patriots’ 30-14 victory over the New York Jets, becoming the first player from the NFL’s International Pathway Program to earn a spot on a team’s 53-man roster. The 24-year-old played sparingly in his NFL debut, his only two offensive snaps coming on game-ending kneeldowns.
“It’s great to see that hard work still gets you somewhere in life, especially in this profession,” Slater said of Johnson, whom head coach Bill Belichick admitted was the Patriots’ worst player at the start of spring practice. “And I think that’s been Jakob’s story since he’s been here, just putting his head down and working as hard as he possibly can to get better minute by minute, hour by hour.
“He’s really embraced his opportunity. He’s tried to work at it every single day. He’s taken coaching, and he’s tried to go out and apply it every single day. It’s really great to see that pay off for a young man like that. He’s just like the rest of us, though. We’re all trying to get better this time of year, and hopefully that’ll be the case moving forward.”
Develin’s injury could force the Patriots, who sit at 3-0 entering this Sunday’s road matchup with the 3-0 Buffalo Bills, to make some difficult decisions in the coming weeks. Starting left tackle Isaiah Wynn and first-round wide receiver N’Keal Harry also are on IR, and even if all three recover fully, NFL rules will permit just two to return to the active roster this season.
