Injury Report: Patriots Rule Out Two Tight Ends For Matchup Vs. Browns

The New England Patriots will have to rely on just two of their tight ends for the game against the Cleveland Browns.

The Pats have ruled Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo out Friday with injuries. Both tight ends missed the game against the New York Jets and didn’t attend practices this week. Izzo was present at all three practice sessions.

Ben Watson and Eric Tomlinson will help the team win the game against the Browns.

Wide receivers Julian delman and Gunner Olszewski, running back Rex Burkhead, safety Patrick Chung and guard Shaq Mason are listed as questionable. They were limited participants on Friday. Burkhead sat out the last three games, and Chung missed two. Edelman, Olszewski and Mason played in all seven games of the regular season.

ESPN’s Mike Reiss goes with the Patriots for Sunday’s game. “It’ll be an interception party. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield leads the NFL with 11 interceptions, the most by a Browns player through six games of a season since Paul McDonald in 1984 (12). Meanwhile, the Patriots’ defense has totaled 18 interceptions. In the past 30 years, only the 1996 Packers had more picks through the first seven games of a season (20).”

Gregg Rosenthal made a similar prediction. “The Baker Mayfield-Odell Beckham Jr. connection has underwhelmed through six games. OBJ is averaging 8.1 yards per target, significantly less than that of Jarvis Landry or even Ricky Seals-Jones. That’s a result of poor timing from the duo, poor throws from Mayfield and a surprising amount of catchable passes Beckham hasn’t come down with. I’m fascinated to see how Freddie Kitchens and Mayfield will attempt to fix the issue in Foxborough, especially with Beckham likely to draw Stephon Gilmore plenty. New England’s heavy press-man-coverage approach should be susceptible to big plays, but the Pats haven’t faced an offense explosive enough to take advantage of their aggression. This Browns offense is fully capable of spiking for one week and resetting expectations after a shaky start, but I don’t trust their coaches, players or defense to handle all the situational-football pressure Bill Belichick and Tom Brady apply in a surprising thriller.”