The Patriots keep looking for answers, but the latest workouts only sharpened the same question: are they betting on what’s already in the building, or are they simply running out of healthy bodies at the positions that matter most?
That tension is hard to miss heading into Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Christian Gonzalez headlines a lengthy injury list, and the Patriots are “severely banged up” ahead of Sunday’s AFC matchup. There is also a non-zero chance they are without several key players when the Raiders come to town, which makes every roster decision feel a little more exposed.
The most obvious pressure point remains wide receiver. The Patriots did not have a single wideout present during their latest workouts, even as they brought in a group of free agents after the win over Buffalo. That is the kind of detail that makes the roster picture feel less like a finished plan and more like a team still searching for the right combination.
At the same time, the Patriots are getting reasons to keep leaning inward.
Efton Chism is the clearest example. He went into the Bills game with negative one yard, then came out of it with two big-time throws and a one-handed touchdown that quickly became the catch of the week. Julian Edelman gave him his stamp of approval on Twitter/X, and the former Patriots receiver put the moment in career-launching terms.
“Chism wasn’t known before [Sunday], but it’s a play like that starts someone’s career potentially. That’s awesome to see.”
Chism is now in position to get more opportunities on game day, which matters for a team that is trying to patch together depth while waiting on injured players to return. Mack Hollins left the win over Buffalo with a non-contact injury, and while he is expected back this season, he may need to miss at least one game. That short-term absence only adds to the pressure on the Patriots’ receiver room.
The same internal-versus-external debate shows up in the backfield, where Rhamondre Stevenson continues to lead the way. The days of the Patriots having a running back run their backfield like LeGarrette Blount or James White are long gone, and now it is Stevenson carrying that load. He has a 43% success rate, which ranks 13th among 51 running backs with at least 20 carries in the league.
That matters because it gives the Patriots another reason to stay patient with what they already have. It also underscores how much of the offense is being asked to function through internal development rather than outside additions.
There are smaller examples, too. Erick Hunter was a UDFA waiver claim added at the end of August, a player who was a healthy scratch in Week 1 before logging 25 snaps across Weeks 2 and 3. Against the Bills, he made four special teams tackles in 19 snaps, and the Patriots followed the workouts by signing defensive back Al’Zillon Hamilton. Hunter’s path is a reminder that the roster is still being shaped by players who were not expected to matter this quickly.
That is the backdrop for a team that has not started the way many expected. Mike Vrabel’s team sits at 2-2 and behind the Raiders in the current AFC playoff picture, so the margin for getting these personnel calls wrong is already thinner than it looked in September.
The Patriots can keep pointing to Chism, Stevenson, Hunter and the rest of the internal group as evidence that patience is paying off. But the injury list keeps growing, the receiver room keeps looking thin, and the workouts keep circling back to the same unresolved need.
How long that can hold will be part of the answer in Week 5.