The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t the only team dealing with injuries heading into their Week 14 matchup with the New England Patriots. Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson suffered a sprained ankle in the team’s 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Stevenson will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the sprain and how long he’ll be out.
With the Steelers-Patriots game on Thursday night, it looks like it will be a tough turnaround to get Stevenson ready to play on Thursday. If he can’t go, the Patriots will rely on veteran RB Ezekiel Elliott, who is in in his first season with the team, to carry the workload. This season, Elliott has 112 carries for 489 yards and two touchdowns, while Stevenson has 156 carries for 619 yards and four scores.
Behind Elliott, the Patriots have veteran Ty Montgomery II and the recently added JaMycal Hasty. New England’s bigger issue is at quarterback, where it has gotten substandard play all season from both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. Zappe started against Los Angeles, and it’s likely he will start again against Pittsburgh.
Losing Stevenson would be a major blow to New England, which has one of the only offenses in the league struggling as much as Pittsburgh. The Patriots are 2-10, and Stevenson has been one of the lone bright spots on what’s been a dreadful team to watch this season. Elliott is a proven veteran though, and he’s shown he can handle a starter workload, which he’s going to have to do if Stevenson does miss time, which seems likely.
Thursday’s matchup could be one of the worst offensive games of the season, and with both teams likely down key offensive pieces (with the Steelers looking like they’ll be without Kenny Pickett), it’s going to be even worse. It could come down to whichever team finds the end zone first, something that New England only did once against the Giants in Week 12 and failed to do against the Chargers in Week 13.
