Patriots lose Devin McCourty, others to injury in Houston

It wouldn't be a Patriots game without someone significant going out with an injury. Last night, there were multiple prominent players who went down.

Safety Devin McCourty sprained his ankle in the third quarter and didn't return. His injury isn't believed to be serious, but he's expected to miss some time.

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston:

Initial tests on New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty revealed a sprained ankle that could force him to miss some game action, but it isn’t a situation that would land him on season-ending injured reserve.

Running back LeGarrette Blount went out in the second quarter with a hip injury and didn't return. There is no word on the severity of his injury at this time.

Defensive tackle Dominique Easley went out with a thigh injury, but Ben Volin of The Boston Globe says that it's nothing serious.

Don’t know the exact nature of Easley’s thigh injury, but I’m hearing it’s nothing serious, maybe miss one game at most

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 14, 2015

And finally, backup linebacker Jonathan Freeny, who assumed a starting role in the wake of Dont'a Hightower's injury, left with a hand injury. X-Rays came back negative, though, so nothing is broken.

Patriots LB Jonathan Freeny's X-rays came back negative, according to a source. He didn't break his hand.

— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) December 14, 2015

It seems the Patriots dodged some bullets with these injuries last night. McCourty's injury is the biggest, because it's unknown exactly how much time he'll miss. They shouldn't need him this weekend against the Titans, but having him for the Jets and Dolphins games would be nice, considering those games figure to be tougher and the Patriots are looking to wrap up the AFC East/home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

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