Patriots' Rhamondre Stevenson exits Packers loss with knee injury, leaving RB room thin
Rhamondre Stevenson left New England's 45-27 loss to Green Bay with a knee injury, leaving the Patriots short at running back with Detroit up next.
The New England Patriots lost their lead running back in the third quarter of Sunday's 45-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Gillette Stadium. Rhamondre Stevenson hurt his knee and did not return, according to USA TODAY Sports. He had scored a touchdown earlier in the game.
Pats Pulpit reported that the injury came late in the third quarter, on a six-yard catch. Stevenson stayed down, went to the blue medical tent and then left for the locker room. ESPN's Mike Reiss reported soon after that Stevenson would not return. Draft Sharks noted that he walked off the field on his own. Before he left, he had six carries for 32 yards and three catches for 46 yards and the score, according to MassLive. He also lost a fumble in the third quarter, and Green Bay scored a touchdown on the first play after recovering it.
The Patriots trailed 42-21 when Stevenson was ruled out, and MassLive said the decision may have been partly precautionary because of the score. Still, the timing is bad. TreVeyon Henderson is out indefinitely with an illness, which left Corey Kiner and Lan Larison as the only healthy backs on Sunday, per Draft Sharks. The passing game is also short-handed, with A.J. Brown (knee, ankle) and Romeo Doubs (shoulder) out and no timeline for either. Stevenson was one of three Patriots to leave with knee injuries. Patriots.com listed cornerback Carlton Davis III and left guard Ben Brown as the other two.
This is not Stevenson's first knee problem this fall. He hurt a knee late in the Week 4 win at Buffalo and returned to practice later that week before facing the Raiders. The Patriots had not given an update on the severity of Sunday's injury as of Monday morning.
What it means against Detroit
The loss dropped New England to 5-4. The Patriots have alternated wins and losses over their last four games: they beat the Jets 26-19, lost 30-24 at Chicago, won 24-19 at Miami and then gave up 45 points to Green Bay. That is the most they have allowed this season, ahead of the 35 at Jacksonville in Week 7. Next up is the Detroit Lions on Sunday, November 15, on Fox. If Stevenson cannot play, the Patriots would face Detroit with Kiner and Larison as their top two backs.
Across the 11 venues on this site's Patriots-Lions board, Detroit is favored by 2.5 points. Novig has the Lions at -141 on the moneyline, and the best price anywhere is -137 at BetRivers. New England is +138 at Novig. On the spread, Novig lists Detroit -2.5 at -113, while FanDuel has the same line at -110. The total is 51.5 at Novig, with the over at -100 and the under at -117. FanDuel has the total a point lower, at 50.5. The venues are close on this game: sportsbook hold runs from 3.0% to 4.6% on the moneyline and from 2.8% to 4.8% on the spread. Any word this week on Stevenson's knee is the news most likely to move those numbers.