(Howard Smith/USA Today Sports)
Despite an offseason filled with plenty of drama, the New England Patriots are off to an impressive start to the 2013 NFL season as they’ve managed to win their first four games–with their latest win coming on Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons. After two close games to start the season, the Patriots have looked impressive over the last two weeks, but things may get more difficult on defense after suffering a huge loss on defense with Vince Wilfork.
The star defensive tackle reportedly suffered a torn Achilles tendon during Sunday’s game against the Falcons–meaning he will most likely miss the remainder of the 2013 season. There was a reason for concern when Wilfork was carted off in the first quarter, but nobody could have imagined his injury to be this serious when it first happened.
league source: Vince Wilfork has torn Achilles – almost certainly ends his season
— shalise manza young (@shalisemyoung) September 30, 2013
Now, it will be interesting to see how New England’s defensive line adjusts to life without Wilfork for the rest of the season.
To say Wilfork has been a key factor for the defense since joining the team in 2004 would be a huge understatement considering how much of a leader he’s been over the years. If the Patriots thought they had bad luck with all of the injuries surrounding key players in Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola, losing Wilfork was the last thing this team needed to deal with heading into Week 5.
Look on the bright side Patriot fans–at least Tom Brady is still healthy.
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