Patriots Beat the Jets 26-19 but Head to Chicago Banged Up on a Short Week

The New England Patriots won their third straight game on Sunday, holding off the New York Jets 26-19 at Gillette Stadium to move to 4-2. The cost was steep. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs, right tackle Morgan Moses, left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and interior lineman Ben Brown all left with injuries, and New England now has three days to get ready for a Thursday Night Football trip to Chicago to face a 4-2 Bears team that just got Caleb Williams back.

Drake Maye was again the steadying force. He completed 18 of 32 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover, his third straight game with at least three touchdown passes, and added 24 yards on four carries. The Patriots led 17-3 at halftime, then nearly gave it away when fumbles by TreVeyon Henderson and DeMario Douglas let the Jets climb back within one score in the fourth quarter. A clock-draining field goal drive sealed it.

The Injury Bill From the Jets Game

NBC Sports Boston summed up the afternoon with the headline that the Patriots were once again battered by injuries, and the list backs that up. Three starting offensive linemen left with lower-body injuries, and the receiver who caught the longest touchdown of the day did not return.

Doubs got hurt landing hard on his shoulder at the end of a 42-yard touchdown catch from Maye in the first quarter. Moses was reportedly seen in a walking boot in the postgame locker room. Ben Brown had slid over to replace Vera-Tucker before he went down too, which forced rookie Caleb Lomu into action at right tackle. Head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game that he did not know who could make it back for Thursday because those players did not finish the game, and that the staff would have to find enough healthy bodies to fill a 48-man game-day roster. Local radio coverage read his comments as close to ruling the group out, though no official Week 7 designations exist yet.

There was one piece of good injury news: cornerback Christian Gonzalez returned from a two-game absence with a shoulder injury.

A.J. Brown's Rough Return

A.J. Brown, playing his first game since suffering a high ankle sprain in the Week 1 opener, was activated in time for the Jets and saw plenty of volume. The results were ugly. He caught 3 of 10 targets for 27 yards and was charged with three drops, per CBS Boston. NBC Sports Boston called the drops a major letdown in an otherwise winning effort.

For fantasy managers, the target share matters more than the hands in a first game back. Ten targets for a receiver coming off a multi-week ankle injury signals that the Patriots view him as a featured option immediately, and with Doubs likely sidelined on a short week, the concentration of looks toward Brown and Douglas should only increase. Douglas led the team with seven catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, and Hunter Henry caught a 7-yard score.

The Backfield: Henderson's Fumble Opens the Door for Kiner

The Patriots backfield got messier on Sunday. Rhamondre Stevenson led the team in carries but averaged just 2.6 yards per tote, while Henderson lost a third-quarter fumble forced by Jets edge rusher David Bailey and saw few snaps afterward. Third-stringer Corey Kiner handled the closing drive and finished as the leading rusher.

Henderson, who carried a questionable tag into the game with an ankle injury, remains the most explosive back on the roster, but ball security now sits next to health as a reason to trim expectations for Thursday. Stevenson projects as the early-down volume back. Kiner is a speculative add in deeper leagues only if the coaching staff keeps leaning on him in the four-minute offense. Behind a patched-up offensive line on the road, none of the three is a confident start.

The Bears Side: Caleb Williams Is Back and Sharp

Chicago enters the game on a high. The Bears beat the Falcons 31-23 in Atlanta on Sunday to reach 4-2, and Williams, back after missing three games with a hamstring injury, completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers and a 111.2 passer rating. He went 10-for-10 on the first two drives as Chicago jumped to a 14-0 lead, and he did not look limited by the hamstring. D'Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns, and cornerback Kyler Gordon, activated from the PUP list a day earlier, posted three sacks and two forced fumbles.

The only blemish was the finish. Chicago led 31-7 in the fourth quarter before Atlanta scored two touchdowns with two-point conversions to make it uncomfortable. That defensive slippage is worth noting for a Patriots offense that can still move the ball through Maye even when the line is compromised.

Early TNF Fantasy Outlook

Maye remains a confident QB1. He has turned the ball over rarely during this stretch and supplies rushing yardage as a floor. The worry is pass protection: with Moses, Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown all in doubt, the Bears front, led by a disruptive Gordon off the slot, has a real chance to speed up his clock.

On the receiving side, Douglas looks like the safest Patriots option in PPR formats, and Brown is a volume-driven WR2 or WR3 with obvious risk. Henry gains appeal as a short-area outlet if the line struggles. Monitor the Doubs designation on Tuesday's estimated practice report, since any absence pushes more work to the remaining receivers.

For Chicago, Williams moves back into the QB1 tier after his efficient return, and Swift is a solid RB2 coming off a two-touchdown game. The Patriots defense did limit the Jets to 0-for-3 in the red zone on Sunday, so touchdown expectations for Chicago skill players should not be inflated.

Betting Angle and the Verdexed View

The consensus market opened with the Bears as small home favorites and has moved toward Chicago. CBS Sports reported the spread opened at 1.5 points with a 48.5 total. As of Monday, SI and Fox Sports both list Chicago at -2.5 with a total of 49.5. The Bears are 4-2 against the spread this season and the Patriots are 3-2-1.

That move makes sense given the factors a model weighs heavily on a Thursday game: the healthier team on short rest, a quarterback returning to form, and an offensive line that might be down three starters. Road teams on short weeks have less time to install protection adjustments, which hits New England's specific problem. For the model's full read on this matchup, see Verdexed's NFL predictions page at /nfl/predictions, and check the weekly slate breakdown at /blog/nfl-week-7-picks-2026 as injury designations firm up. Anyone wagering should be of legal betting age in your jurisdiction.

What's Next

The Patriots will release an estimated practice report on Monday and Tuesday, then final designations on Wednesday. The key names are Doubs, Moses, Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown, along with Henderson's ankle. If the line is down multiple starters, expect the market to keep drifting toward Chicago.

The takeaway: Start Maye and lean into Douglas in PPR leagues, treat A.J. Brown as a volume flex rather than a locked-in WR2, and downgrade the entire Patriots backfield until the offensive line injury picture clears. If you are looking at the spread, wait for Wednesday's injury report before acting, because the number already reflects some of New England's losses but not a worst-case lineup.