There will be a new blindside protector for Tom Brady after the New England Patriots lost offensive tackle Nate Solder for the year with a torn right biceps, according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. Solder will need surgery to repair the injury and the Patriots will likely have to rely on Marcus Cannon to fill in.
Patriots OT Nate Solder done for season with torn biceps
Solder suffered a torn right biceps in a Week 5 game against the Cowboys and is done for the season.
On Wednesday, the Patriots placed Solder on season-ending injured reserve, according to McBride.
Solder, 27, was a first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and signed a two-year contract extension just before the beginning of the season. He is a team captain and previously missed just one game in the first four seasons of his career.
It's unknown exactly when the injury happened, but Solder left the field in the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys and appeared to hurt himself against Tyrone Crawford who beat him on the play for a sack. Solder told ESPN's Mike Reiss after the game that he was unsure about the severity of the arm injury:
“It’s too hard to tell. We’re just going to roll forward and see what happens,” he said, declining to get into specifics on the play in which [he] came off holding his right arm.
Cannon was Solder’s replacement following the injury and that didn’t slow the Patriots’ offense any as it rolled to a 30-6 victory with 17 of those points coming in the second half.
It's also possible that the Patriots could ask veteran right tackle Sebastian Vollmer to play at left tackle, allowing Cannon to play on the right side. Vollmer played left tackle as a rookie in 2009, but has been the starting right tackle for the Patriots since 2010.
The Patriots have the NFL’s top-ranked offense and are averaging 37.25 points per game through the first five weeks. Brady has been sacked 11 times, which is the 12th-most in the NFL, but he has tallied 11 touchdowns without an interception and leads the league with a 121.5 passer rating.
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