Patriots Wary To Admit Commanders Sold At Trade Deadline

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The New England Patriots will have to tweak their preparation for the Washington Commanders this week, even if they don't want to admit it.

The Commanders made some pretty significant personnel changes Tuesday, shipping Montez Sweat and Chase Young off to pastures new prior to the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. Sweat is now with the Chicago Bears, while Young was sent to the San Francisco 49ers -- netting Washington second- and third-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Patriots will benefit from not having to face the disruptive pair, but are taking no chances in admitting relief and producing bulletin-board material ahead of the Week 9 matchup.

"There's those next two guys that will be ready to step up," Patriots tight end Hunter Henry said Wednesday. "That's always the thing in this league, if you trade or lose someone because they get hurt, the next guy is going to step up. I know those guys will be fired up and ready to play a lot of snaps.

"Those next two guys will be ready to go, like I said. They'll be chomping at the bit, ready to go. I know that."

Sweat and Young combined for 11.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 20 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles on the season, playing 77% of Washington's defensive snaps. It's expected that James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill and Efe Obada will step into increased roles, but Toohill is the only one to hold a real role prior to the trades.

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"They play Toohill and Smith-Williams, they rotate them in there anyway," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday. "I'm sure they wanted to play the rookies. I don't think they would have traded them if they didn't feel good about the guys they had behind them, and I can see why. We'll be ready for them. There's plenty of film on Toohill and Smith-Williams."

New England's offensive line isn't exactly a trusted unit at this point in the season, and with Trent Brown dealing with an injury, it certainly helps to miss a pair of Pro Bowl candidates on the edge. The Patriots will just have to deal with a pair of Pro Bowlers on the interior in Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen.

Lucky them.