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Safety Kanorris Davis and linebacker Ja’Gared Davis were signed off the practice squad and added to the 53-man roster in time for Sunday’s game against the Bengals.
Ja’Gared Davis will wear jersey No. 53 while Kanorris Davis will wear No. 36.
The two moves could be a likely sign that special teams captain Matthew Slater is not ready to return to action after returning to practice on Friday for the first time since breaking his wrist in the season opener. Slater was listed as “doubtful” on Friday’s injury report.
The Patriots are likely to be without Rob Gronkowski for the game while Danny Amendola could make his return after missing the last three games with a groin injury.
New England will go the rest of the 2013 season without one of its premier run defenders in Vince Wilfork, who was placed on injured reserve with an Achilles injury he suffered in last Sunday’s win over the Falcons.
In his place, the Patriots will likely try and variety of looks in hoping to maintain their solid run defense numbers they put up over the first quarter of the season. (They’re yielding an average of 105 yards per game, 14th in the league.)
New England will ask a lot of veteran defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, as well as rookies Joe Vellano and Chris Jones up front. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Patriots utilize some three-man fronts with a combination of Kelly, defensive ends Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich and bringing run-stuffing linebacker Brandon Spikes down into the box.
They might also pull Jones into the defensive tackle spot a little more frequently than they have done in the past and put rookie Michael Buchanan on the edge, but again, that would only be sporadically.
Statistically, the Bengals are middle-of-the-road to poor when it comes to running the football, but youngster Gio Bernard has shown flashes of excellence over the first four games of the season (4.6 yards per carry, 10.2 yards per catch), and if he continues on his current pace, could take over the starters’ job from old friend BenJarvus Green-Ellis sooner rather than later.
