The Patriots have struggled to field a healthy offensive line this season, with Cole Strange, Sidy Sow, Vederian Lowe, and Caedan Wallace dealing with various injuries over the first four weeks.
Now, New England will lose starting center and team captain David Andrews for the remainder of the season after he injured his shoulder against the 49ers in Week 4. Andrews will undergo surgery to fix his shoulder, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, after briefly debating if he could play through the injury for the rest of the year.
Backup center Nick Leverett is expected to replace Andrews in the Patriots’ starting lineup after finishing Week 4 at center after Andrews went down. The majority of Leverett’s NFL experience has come at guard, but the Patriots gave him plenty of snaps at center in the preseason after projected backup center Jake Andrews suffered an offseason injury that required surgery and ended his season. The Patriots also have undrafted rookie center Bryan Hudson on their practice squad. He could see some game day elevations or even a promotion to the active roster as New England figures out their center depth.
More to come.