The Kansas City Chiefs might see a bit more of Phillip Dorsett than expected given the Patriots injuries at wide receiver.
Despite the season-ending injury to star wideout Julian Edelman earlier this preseason, the New England Patriots remain deep at wide receiver. That was true even before Bill Belichick pulled the trigger on a recent deal to bring former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Phillip Dorsett over in a trade for quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Given the depth, it was expected that Dorsett would need some time to find his place in Tom Brady’s offense, but he might be utilized a bit more than expected given another recent injury.
Second-year wideout Malcolm Mitchell has been plagued by a knee injury this preseason that kept him out of practice in August. Even on Monday, Mitchell was limited in practice for the Patriots as they prepare for Thursday’s showdown against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs. While Mitchell is not a prime target in the Patriots offense, he’s utilized enough that any substitute for him will be seen on several snaps on Thursday .
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Enter Dorsett. The former Colts first round pick is likely to spell Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan on the outside when needed or sub for Mitchell on multiple wide receiver sets if the Georgia product is unavailable. That could prove interesting given that Dorsett has only had less than a week to learn the playbook before being thrown into primetime.
The Patriots will be just fine offensively with primary targets like Rob Gronkowski, Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan and even Danny Amendola available for Tom Brady to utilize. That doesn’t even touch the brand new stable of running backs who all boast a versatile skill set on offense: players like James White, Rex Burkhead and Mike Gilleslee. But on obvious passing downs, the loss of Edelman and potentially Mitchell could make things a bit unstable at the bottom of the depth chart and force a new player into an uncomfortable setting against one of the NFL’s best defensive units.