The New England Patriots had one of the worst offensive line units in the league last season, and with former first-round pick Cole Stange going down with a season-ending injury in December, it got even worse.
Strange's injury had been described as a knee injury, but we now know exactly what the former Tennessee-Chattanooga offensive lineman is recovering from, as ESPN's Mike Reiss has reported that it's a torn patellar tendon.
A couple of weeks ago, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo, who interestingly suffered the same injury when he was playing linebacker for New England back in 2014, said Strange is month-to-month as he works through the rehab process.
While Mayo returned for the next season, he seemed to be a lot slower and was playing behind Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins. He retired at the end of that year.
Kansas City Chiefs starting offensive tackle Lucas Niang suffered the injury in Week 17 of 2021 and wasn't activated until Week 11 of 2022. Everyone's recovery timeline and process are different, but if Strange misses the same amount of time, he won't return until Week 9.
That timeline may shed some more light on the Patriots' decision to target Layden Robinson in the draft, as they might not have their expected starter until midway through the year.
