Patriots Captain ‘Gutted’ By Ace Special Teamer’s Knee Injury

CLEVELAND — One of the New England Patriots’ kicking-game stalwarts suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury during Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns.

Veteran special teamer Cody Davis went down clutching his knee while covering a kickoff late in the first half of New England’s 38-15 victory at FirstEnergy Stadium. He walked to the locker room with members of the Patriots’ training staff and swiftly was ruled out for the rest of the game.

The severity of Davis’ injury had yet to be reported as of midday Monday, but postgame comments from Matthew Slater suggested it was significant.

“I’ve played with a lot of guys in this league, and I can’t think of a better person than Cody Davis,” the Patriots’ longtime special teams captain said. “Obviously, he’s a great, great, great player, but I think about the type of husband he is, dad, and it’s inspiring to me. It’s been really fun to see him with his family and see him as a man.

“So when he was down, I’m not going to lie, I felt out of it the rest of the game. You kind of felt like you were in the Twilight Zone a little bit. I hate to see that. I’m obviously praying for him, and I’m certainly gutted for Cody and his injury.”

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Davis, a safety, has played just one defensive snap in two-plus seasons with New England, but he ranked third among Patriots players in special teams snaps in 2020 and 2021. The 33-year-old ranked second in that category through five weeks entering Sunday’s game, trailing only Slater. He’s in the final year of a two-year, $4.3 million contract he signed ahead of the 2021 campaign.

The Patriots, who also lost wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and defensive tackle Christian Barmore to injuries in the win, will host the Chicago Bears next week on “Monday Night Football.”