Patriots vs. Bills Friday injury report: JuJu Smith-Schuster out, 9 others questionable for New England

[PatNation]

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Game statuses for New Year’s Eve’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Highmark Stadium. The New England Patriots have ruled out JuJu Smith-Schuster for New Year’s Eve against the Buffalo Bills. The veteran wide receiver remained sidelined from practice on Friday and will now miss his third consecutive game due to an ankle injury. Nine members of the active roster move forward as questionable, however, while running back Ezekiel Elliott, wideout Kayshon Boutte, offensive tackle Trent Brown, linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and safety Jalen Mills all will go without game statuses. Here’s the final injury report heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Highmark Stadium. OUT Patriots

• WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (ankle)

Bills

• No players listed

Smith-Schuster has not played since catching four passes for a season-high 90 yards against his former Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 7. The Super Bowl LVII champion was a limited participant on Wednesday before sitting out back-to-back practices to conclude the week. Eleven appearances into his stay in Foxborough, he stands with seven starts and one touchdown for the wide receiver room. QUESTIONABLE Patriots

• TE Hunter Henry (knee)
• DT Christian Barmore (knee)
• LB Anfernee Jennings (knee)
• CB Jonathan Jones (knee)
• CB Myles Bryant (chest)
• CB Shaun Wade (hip)
• S Kyle Dugger (illness)
• S Jabrill Peppers (hamstring)
• ST Matthew Slater (hamstring)

Bills

• WR Justin Shorter (hamstring)
• DT DaQuan Jones (pectoral)
• DE A.J. Epenesa (rib)
• S Damar Hamlin (shoulder)

Eight out of New England’s nine questionable practiced in a partial capacity on Friday. The lone exception would be Dugger. The starting safety, absent because of an illness, ranks atop the defense with 97.7 percent of the snaps played in the final year of his rookie contract. Elsewhere, Henry, Peppers and Slater had all been inactive on Christmas Eve against the Denver Broncos. For the tight end and the defensive back, dealing with respective knee and hamstring injuries, the 26-23 win at Mile High marked their first missed game since arriving as free agents one March apart. As for the captain of the Patriots’ special teams, who is also dealing with a hamstring issue, he hadn’t been scratched since 2017, instead playing in 108 straight.

Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/12/29/2 ... ew-england