DL Trey Flowers: The fourth-year defensive lineman did not practice Wednesday (concussion) and his loss would be a big one for the Patriots. Flowers is clearly the team’s best defensive lineman.
CB Eric Rowe: The Patriots No. 2 corner, if he plays, must show that he can rebound from a terrible performance against Jacksonville. Jason McCourty replaced Rowe because he could not cover Jaguars WR Keelan Cole. The Lions have depth at receiver and will look to expose the Pats weakness at this spot.
CB Cyrus Jones, who was released by the Patriots at the end of training camp, was signed off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad because they are looking to find an adequate punt returner. The Pats gave up on RB Kenjon Barner, who was supposed to help with the punt return duties, after only a week on the roster. Barner was inactive in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars.
T Marcus Cannon: It would be beneficial for the Pats if their right tackle returned. Cannon was inactive Sunday and LaAdrian Waddle started in his place. Cannon is a clear upgrade over Waddle.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: S Duron Harmon/Devin McCourty. It would be helpful if one of the free safeties recorded an interception. The Pats could use more plays out of their defense, especially against the Lions strong wide receiving corps which performs well in the deep passing game.
GAME PLAN: The Patriots must deal effectively with the Lions deep passing attack. The Lions will watch the Patriots/Jaguars game and think big plays can be made on the Pats defense. The Patriots emphasize that their defensive struggles are not because of one area, but rather they need to play better team defense. A pass rush would prevent the secondary from having to cover for such a long period of time and the secondary could bail out the front seven by making more plays.
Offensively, Tom Brady will need to avoid holding onto the ball too long because the Lions have speed up front and can get after Brady. Also, the Pats should get James White involved as much as possible. He can counter the Lions pressure by catching screen passes and he can be a workhorse in the running game and wear down the Lions defense. The Pats also must find a receiver (and maybe Phillip Dorsett is the answer) who can take the pressure off Rob Gronkowski who had only two catches for 15 yards Sunday against Jacksonville. Dorsett has 12 catches in two games which is how many catches he had in all of 2017.
QUOTE TO NOTE: Rob Gronkowski on how Josh Gordon can succeed in New England: “Work hard. Do your job. That explains it all.”
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Lions WR Golden Tate vs. Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore has covered DeAndre Hopkins and Donte Moncrief well in his first two games. He will likely be matched up against Tate, for at least part of the game, who has 14 receptions in the Lions first two games. Gilmore must prevent Tate from taking over the game as he is capable of doing.
–Patriots RBs James White/Sony Michel vs. Lions LB Devon Kennard. Kennard, who the Lions signed this offseason from the New York Giants, has paid dividends so far this season with three sacks including two last week against the 49ers. If he blitzes, a running back will be called to pass block and White would be ideal for this role.
