Bill Belichick Cracks Keenan Allen Joke Ahead Of Patriots-Chargers

FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t mind not having to face one of the NFL’s top wide receivers this Sunday.

Los Angeles Chargers star Keenan Allen, who leads the NFL in targets (129) and receptions (97) this season, missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a quad injury, putting his status for Sunday’s matchup at Gillette Stadium in doubt.

Belichick knows how important Allen is to LA’s offense.

“If they want to rest him this week, that would be all right with us,” New England’s coach cracked during his Friday morning news conference.

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The Chargers’ Justin Herbert-led passing attack would look drastically different if Allen can’t go. How so?

Consider this: The five-time Pro Bowler has 85 more targets, 68 more catches and 740 more receiving yards than any other LA player this season. He topped 10 catches and 100 yards in each of his last three games and also delivered an 18-catch, 215-yard bonanza in a September win over Minnesota.

Long considered one of the NFL’s premier route-runners, the 31-year-old Allen is one touchdown and less than 300 receiving yards away from his career highs with six games still remaining. His seven scores are tied for fourth-most in the league, and his 1,117 yards are third behind Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb, who has played one more game.

Running back Austin Ekeler ranks second on the team in targets and catches with 44 and 29, respectively, and third-year receiver Josh Palmer is runner-up in yards with 377. Mike Williams, the Chargers’ productive No. 2 wideout, tore his ACL in Week 3 and hasn’t played since.

“Whatever the matchups are, whatever the adjustments are, we would make (them) if he’s not in there,” Belichick said. “Sometimes they change what they do. It may be a different personnel group. You don’t have to substitute a receiver with a receiver. Sometimes you can put a tight end in there. This is a team that has multiple tight ends. Or they could not, and they could put another receiver in there.

“If there’s not a lot of history of what they do in those situations, then you have to be ready for maybe a couple of things it could be.”

Removing Allen would lighten the burden on a Patriots defense that allowed just 10 points in each of its last two games but frequently has been victimized by explosive pass plays. Despite facing a string of so-so quarterbacks (Sam Howell, Gardner Minshew and Tommy DeVito), New England surrendered 14 completions of 20-plus yards during its current three-game losing streak.

Both teams could have trouble passing the ball on Sunday, as the Patriots likely will be without top receiver Demario Douglas. The rookie standout suffered a concussion in last week’s loss to the New York Giants and did not practice this week.

Second-year pro Bailey Zappe is expected to start at quarterback for New England, replacing the struggling Mac Jones.

The Patriots and Chargers will release their final Week 13 injury reports Friday afternoon.