The New England Patriots haven't been playing well, and they've been losing key players to injuries throughout the first four weeks of the season.
On Sunday, Patriots center and captain David Andrews left their battle with the San Francisco 49ers after just nine snaps due to a shoulder injury and failed to return to the game.
Considering Andrews' toughness and what he's played through and dealt with before, the fact that he didn't come back was cause for immediate concern.
According to MassLive's Mark Daniels, Andrews will require surgery on his shoulder at some point. He's getting more opinions to find out if he can play through it without worsening the injury.
Daniels reports that if Andrews does have surgery, it will end his 2024 season and if it worsens, he could miss all of 2025.
The Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan reported that Andrews isn't expected to decide on surgery or attempt to play through the injury soon, but he is unlikely to play Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, leaving Nick Leverett as the team's top center again.
Andrews also discussed his mindset a bit on his podcast (transcribed by ESPN's Mike Reiss).
"It's frustrating being hurt. As a player, sometimes you have to make decisions if you being out there is the best thing for the team, and if you can perform... "There is some stuff I have to try to figure out here, and see what I can do to be the best player I can be on Sunday. That's the big thing. Anybody can go out there and play. But it's trying to be effective and I think that's the human aspect of it more than the football player -- you want to be the best you can be and making sure you can try to do that.
"Just trying to take it day by day right now and get some things weighed out, and I'm going to try to get better as quick as I can, and see where things go. Or what has to go. I'm just trying to figure all that stuff out. It's super frustrating, man."
Andrews is such a key part of what the offense does each week that his loss is huge. Leverett will become the team's starting center until Andrews returns, but they'll need to invest in a backup either on the 53-man roster or the practice squad.
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