On Tuesday afternoon, New England Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard suffered an apparent shoulder injury and was taken from the field, according to the Boston Globe.
Alfonzo Dennard injury: Patriots CB has likely shoulder issue
Who said OTAs are safe? Now New England has an injury to monitor.
Jared Wickerham
After being carted away from the action, the thoughts of both the organization and fans now turn to how serious the injury is. Dennard started seven games as a rookie last season and played very well after being picked in the seventh round.
Dennard is expected to be the starter on one side opposite Aqib Talib. However, if Dennard is injured and can't go, it will likely be Ras-I Dowling taking over, a former second-round pick who has never contributed.
As Alec Shane of Pats Pulpit notes, it’s useless to jump to any early conclusions on an injury like Dennard’s. He writes:
If history is any indicator, the bulk of shoulder injuries aren’t season-ending; worst case scenario would be that Dennard requires some kind of surgery that keeps him out of the beginning of the season - but there’s no sense in jumping to that conclusion just yet.
Tight end Jake Ballard (ankle) and running back Stevan Ridley (hamstring) also suffered minor injuries, but neither should be anything to worry about.
The Patriots have almost two months to let everyone heal before training camp comes around in late July.
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