Some unsettling news broke yesterday that Patriots’ defensive end, Ty Warren, is out for the season with a hip injury. Warren was placed on injured reserve after it was discovered that his torn labrum would require surgery. Just two years ago, the Patriots had arguable the best D-line in the NFL with Richard Seymour and Warren sandwiching Big Vince Wilfork. With Seymour gone to Oakland last season and Ty out for 2010, Wilfork is certainly going to have to step up and earn the big pay day he received his off-season.
The loss of Warren will almost certainly bolster the wide spread rumors of the Patriots being done. However, losing big-time players early on has seemed like a near-yearly occurrence for the Patriots this past decade, and they’ve always been able to bounce back. The Patriots have shown too much promise this off-season to let the loss of one player set them off course. Football is the ultimate team sport and I still believe this 2010 Patriots team, sans Warren, is still better than last year’s 10-6 counterpart.
There was some good news yesterday as veteran linebacker Derrick Burgess made his return. The Pats were razor thin at the OLB position and having Burgess in the fold will definitely take some pressure of rookie Jermaine Cunningham who had to shoulder the bulk of the load in Burgess’ absence.
Overall, the player the Patriots lost was certainly better than the one they gained. However, given their depth chart, losing a lineman and gaining an outside linebacker wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened yesterday.
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