The Patriots have ruled out two starting wide receivers for their Week 17 game in New York.
With two starters unavailable, the New England Patriots will have to rely on their wide receiver depth in Week 17 against the New York Jets.
Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins, who are dealing with a concussion and abdominal injury, respectively, have both been ruled out by head coach Mike Vrabel on Friday. In turn, the spotlight shifts to the other options available at the position.
Stefon Diggs is the main man, and he likely will be involved heavily versus the Jets. The same is true for third-round rookie Kyle Williams, who already saw an uptick in opportunities earlier this season when Boutte was nursing a hamstring injury. Behind those two, however, the questions begin.
One is the availability of slot receiver DeMario Douglas, who himself is questionable with a hamstring issue. Regardless of his status, the Patriots will tap into even deeper layers of their depth chart: semi-regular healthy scratch Efton Chism as well as practice squad options John Jiles and Jeremiah Webb are all realistic candidates now to see the field on Sunday.
Chism is the most experienced of the three, having appeared in six games so far. Primarily serving as a kickoff returner, he has 16 runbacks for an average of 23.9 yards to show for.
And while his offensive production has been lacking — zero targets in 25 snaps — he received some praise from his coach.
“He’s always prepared,” said Mike Vrabel. “There are hard workers on this team, I would say none that probably work harder than Efton. I’m not going to say that he’s the hardest worker, but you’d be hard-pressed to find players who work harder than him to be prepared, to be ready, to take advantage of his opportunity, which it looks by all accounts that he’ll get opportunities.“
An undrafted rookie earlier this year, Chism found his way onto the roster with a strong training camp and preseason performance. Among the players he managed to beat out for one of the coveted 53 spots were the aforementioned John Jiles and Jeremiah Webb.
Depending on DeMario Douglas’ outlook, at least one of the two should be expected to be elevated for the game in New York. According to Vrabel, both have left a positive impression behind the scenes so far this year.
“I have enjoyed working with those guys,” he said. “John since we got started, and Webby since after the draft. I think both improved. Both have been, I would say, multiple show team players of the week in their respective receiver or on special teams. That’s great to see.”
Jiles has been with the Patriots since joining their practice squad as an undrafted rookie in 2024, with Webb joining the mix as a UDFA himself this offseason. So far, neither has been given any non-preseason opportunities in their careers.
That could be about to change on Sunday.
Category: General Sports
