Injury Report: Rookies Roberts and Flowers banged up, Rufus Johnson no worse for the wear

The #1 concern of preseason football every year is keeping players healthy, and at first glance, it seems the Patriots escaped any major harm in their opener versus the Packers last night.

Three players of note all ran into injury trouble in their own way - rookies Darryl Roberts and Trey Flowers and third-year man Rufus Johnson. For Roberts, the rookie cornerback left the game late in the first quarter and did not return to the action. According to Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal, Roberts injured his hand/wrist and already had x-rays taken to assess the damage, but the extent of the injury is unknown. New England's seventh-round pick this year, Roberts started the game as the right corner opposite Malcolm Butler and has played rather well through the first weeks of training camp.

Trey Flowers, who made one of the plays of the night by beating Green Bay tackle David Bakhtiari clean off the line with a powerful burst before dropping Aaron Rodgers for the sack, also left late in the first quarter due to an undisclosed injury. After the play, Flowers fell to the turf and was accompanied by the Patriots training staff. The 21-year-old DLineman was able to walk off under his own power to the sideline but went straight to the locker room and did not return.

As for Rufus Johnson, who also had a strong game in the 36 snaps he played, the linebacker left the game in the fourth quarter after his right leg rolled up with lineman Geneo Grissom. Johnson figures to be no worse for the wear, telling CSNNE's Tom Curran that the knock isn't expected to keep him out of action moving forward. One other note from Daniels, he reported that both Roberts and Flowers were not seen in the locker room following the game.

[photo via www.foxsports.com]