Patriots Captain’s Status In Doubt For AFC Championship
Harold Landry III did not practice this week
The New England Patriots have seemingly been preparing for life without linebacker Harold Landry III, and it’s a good thing they have…
Landry, who has seen his snap counts dip each of the last three weeks, missed back-to-back-to-back practices prior to the AFC Championship on Sunday — with his third consecutive absence noted by MassLive’s Mark Daniels on Friday.
It’s now extremely unlikely that he will be available to play against the Denver Broncos.
Landry’s knee injury has become an issue over the last month, as he averaged 46 snaps per game across the first several months of the season before seeing his totals fall to 30 against the Baltimore Ravens, 26 in the wild-card round against the Los Angeles Chargers and 11 in the divisional round against the Houston Texans. Landry also missed his club’s last two regular season games against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.
If you’d like a more detailed look at his overall contributions, take a look below:
| WEEK | OPPONENT | SNAPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas Raiders | 48 |
| 2 | @ Miami Dolphins | 52 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 42 |
| 4 | Carolina Panthers | 49 |
| 5 | @ Buffalo Bills | 62 |
| 6 | @ New Orleans Saints | 47 |
| 7 | @ Tennessee Titans | 37 |
| 8 | Cleveland Browns | 38 |
| 9 | Atlanta Falcons | 45 |
| 10 | @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 54 |
| 11 | New York Jets | 42 |
| 12 | @ Cincinnati Bengals | 48 |
| 13 | @ New York Giants | 31 |
| 15 | Buffalo Bills | 52 |
| 16 | @ Baltimore Ravens | 30 |
| 17 | @ New York Jets | Inactive |
| 18 | Miami Dolphins | Inactive |
| Wild Card | Los Angeles Chargers | 26 |
| Divisional | Houston Texans | 11 |
New England has leaned heavily on the likes of K’Lavon Chaisson, Elijah Ponder and Anfernee Jennings with the uncertainty surrounding the captains’ availability, with the former two logging season-high snap counts across the last month.
Darrell Taylor, who was signed to the practice squad two weeks ago, could be elevated as potential insurance behind that trio for the AFC Championship.
New England has gotten by playing against two below-average offensive lines thus far in the postseason, but things are changing as it will face one of the very best units in the NFL in the Denver Broncos.
