Patriots Place Offensive Tackle On Injured Reserve Amid Illness

Calvin Anderson will miss at least the next four Patriots games as the veteran offensive tackle battles a mysterious illness.

New England placed Anderson on injured reserve on Friday ahead of its Week 9 matchup with the Washington Commanders.

Anderson did not practice this week and already had been ruled out for Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium. He also missed last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins due to illness after sitting out two of the three previous games as a healthy scratch.

The nature of Anderson’s illness is unclear. Head coach Bill Belichick recently said it’s “not the same” as the ailment that sidelined the 27-year-old for all of training camp.

“Honestly, I don’t really know enough to talk about it,” Belichick said last Friday. “Are they related? I don’t know. It’s way over my pay grade.”

Asked whether Anderson, who started at right tackle in Weeks 1 and 2, will be able to return this season, Belichick replied: “I hope so. But I don’t know.”

“It’s not really a football injury,” he added. “Well, maybe it is, but I don’t think it is. I don’t really know.”

The Patriots did not announce a corresponding roster move, but a logical one would be promoting offensive tackle Conor McDermott from the practice squad. New England re-signed McDermott, who was with the Patriots last season and this summer, to the P-squad two weeks ago. He was elevated to the gameday roster against Miami but did not play.

Starting left tackle Trent Brown (knee/ankle) and backup Vederian Lowe (ankle) both are listed as questionable for Sunday’s Patriots-Commanders game. Brown missed practice Wednesday and Thursday but returned in a limited capacity Friday.