By: SportsDirect

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Vince Wilfork (NT – NEP), New England Patriots, Denver Broncos

New England Patriots fans can rest easy with the release of Friday’s injury report. While quarterback Tom Brady and defensive lineman Vince Wilfork were both limited in practice on Friday due to personal reasons, they are not listed on the official report that came out in the afternoon.

However, defensive back Patrick Chung did not practice at all this week due to his foot injury and will miss his sixth straight game this season, as he is listed as doubtful. Tackle Sebastian Vollmer is the only other player listed as doubtful.

Thirteen other players are listed as questionable, including wide receives Deion Branch and Wes Welker, running back Danny Woodhead and linebacker Brandon Spikes. Spikes was a teammate of Tim Tebow’s while in college at Florida.

Here is the full report:

For more updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more on this game, visit Broncos blog Mile High Report and Patriots blog Pats Pulpit. For news from around the NFL, visit SB Nation’s NFL news hub.

Read More: James Ihedigbo (DB – NEP), Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Vince Wilfork (NT – NEP), Deion Branch (WR – NEP), Wes Welker (WR – NEP), Danny Woodhead (RB – NEP), Matthew Slater (WR – NEP), Ryan Wendell (C – NEP), Pat Chung (FS – NEP), Sebastian Vollmer (OT – NEP), Brandon Spikes (LB – NEP), Devin McCourty (CB – NEP), Dane Fletcher (LB – NEP), Shane Vereen (RB – NEP), New England Patriots, Denver Broncos

The New England Patriots have quite a few players banged up as they prepare to travel to Denver to face the Broncos on Sunday. Wide receivers Wes Welker and Deion Branch were among 12 New England players limited in Thursday’s practice due to injury.

The other players limited by injury: guard Dan Connelly, wide receiver Julian Edelman, linebacker Dane Fletcher, defensive backs James Ihedigbo and Devin McCourty, wide receiver Matthew Slater, linebacker Brandon Spikes, running back Shane Vereen, center Ryan Wendell and running back Danny Woodhead.

Quarterback Tom Brady and nose tackle Vince Wilfork also were limited, but for reasons not related to injury.

Free safety Pat Chung and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer were unable to practice for the second consecutive day.

For more updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more on this game, visit Broncos blog Mile High Report and Patriots blog Pats Pulpit. For news from around the NFL, visit SB Nation’s NFL news hub.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England’s defensive backs are trying to prepare for a quarterback they’ve hardly seen.

The same can be said of Kansas City’s Tyler Palko getting ready for the Patriots’ secondary, which has been spread thin by recent injuries.

“Whenever you’re number is called, you just have to adapt. See your role and just be ready,” said cornerback Kyle Arrington, one of New England’s few defensive backs who hasn’t been knocked out of the lineup this season. “You always have to prepare like you’re going to be out there.”

Sterling Moore is coming off his first career start and preparing for may be his second in a row. A cornerback the Patriots picked up after he was released by Oakland, stepped in at safety as Patrick Chung was out with a foot injury.

Antwaun Molden, who was claimed off waivers in September, had to take over at corner when starter Devin McCourty injured his right his shoulder during the first half of a win over the Jets.

If Chung and McCourty are still out Monday, the Patriots will have to rely once again on some of their newest players when they host the Chiefs on Monday night.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to continue the success that we had in the secondary last week,” Moore said before practice Thursday.

The Patriots will be going up against Palko, who is making his first career start and has played in only two games this season. There isn’t a lot of video to review on Palko, who replaced former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.

The patched-up secondary helped keep New York’s Mark Sanchez in check as the Patriots won 37-16. Sanchez passed for 306 yards, but completed only 20 of 39 passes and was intercepted twice by linebacker Rob Ninkovich.

Backup safety Josh Barrett was placed on injured reserve last week, opening a spot on the active roster for Moore, an undrafted free agent who went through training camp with the Raiders but was a late cut.

“It was kind of hectic last week, especially earlier in the week knowing that I might have a chance to get out there. A lot more playbook study and a lot more film watching. It’s nothing that I’m not too used to,” Moore said. “I’m definitely getting a lot more comfortable with the guys that I’m back there with. I know we’ve got a lot of interchanging parts but we’re pretty comfortable with who we’ve got back there.”

The Patriots have also been using cornerback Phillip Adams the last few weeks. He has been off and on the active roster since the Patriots picked him up in September after he was released by San Francisco.

New England started another undrafted rookie at linebacker last week when Jeff Tarpinian stepped in for Brandon Spikes. Tarpinian was actually more experienced than some of his newer teammates, subbing in six games before getting the start.

Even with all the new faces, the New England defence had one of its best games of the season. It wasn’t enough to bump the Patriots from last place on the NFL total defence standings, but the Patriots played well enough to win and take control of the AFC East.

Andre Carter, another newcomer to New England, set a franchise record with 4 1-2 sacks and was named AFC defensive player of the week. The Patriots picked up the veteran as a free agent in August.

“All these guys, I’m talking offence, defence, special teams — this team — works very, very hard. When you have a guy go out and put up a performance like Andre did, you can’t be nothing but happy for him,” nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. “To be good you have to be able to make adjustments at times. We’ve handled it well so far and hopefully we can continue to get better.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – With the lowest-rated pass defence in the NFL and one of the league’s top quarterbacks coming to town, it could be a busy Sunday for the New England Patriots’ secondary.

New England (5-2) hosts the New York Giants (5-2) on Sunday and the Patriots know to expect a lot of passes from Eli Manning.

Knowing the pass is coming hasn’t helped the Patriots defence so far.

“In this game you have to find a weakness and right now, our weakness is our pass defence,” nose tackle Vince Wilfork said Thursday. “We understand that but a one-dimensional team shouldn’t be able to beat us.”

New England is allowing 323 passing yards per game, the worst average in the league. The Patriots also rank last in total defence, allowing 424 yards.

Considering what happened last week in a loss at Pittsburgh and who New England faces this week, the Patriots’ defensive backs know they will be targeted.

“It’s not a lack of focus or anything throughout the week. I think we practise pretty hard and are a competitive group of guys. We’ve just got to execute better,” cornerback Kyle Arrington said. “We do a great job throughout the week of practice as far as our focus and our commitment goes.

“We just have to bring it with us on Sundays.”

Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger threw 50 times last week against New England, completing 36 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns in a 25-17 win.

And that was without star receiver Hines Ward, who sat out with an ankle injury and said this week that he didn’t feel he needed to push his recovery for the Patriots’ beleaguered secondary. Cornerback Devin McCourty said he hadn’t heard Ward’s comments and didn’t consider them relevant because the Patriots are done with Pittsburgh for now.

“We really don’t worry about what everybody else says. We’re just trying to get better and we’re trying to do it as soon as possible,” McCourty said. “We’re going to have that urgency at practice to get better — trying to make sure it keeps coming over on Sundays, not just for a week, not for two weeks but that we can be consistent stringing each game together.”

Now the Patriots have to try and stop Manning, who trails only Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay and New England’s own Tom Brady in NFL quarterback ratings.

Manning has completed almost 65 per cent of his passes for 2,127 yards and 13 touchdowns with just five interceptions. And with running back Ahmad Bradshaw’s status for Sunday uncertain because of a broken bone in his foot, Manning could be throwing the ball even more than usual on Sunday.

Wilfork said New England’s defensive line can help the secondary by strengthening the pass rush and shutting down the run, forcing Manning into longer and more difficult passes.

“It works hand in hand. It’s not track where you can out and throw a shot put or run a 100-yard dash and win a medal by yourself. You win together,” Wilfork said. “I don’t want none of our DBs to think that it’s their fault.”

The defensive woes have only cost the Patriots two games. New England’s offence has been strong enough to compensate, but stalled the last two contests. After scoring 30 or more points in the first five games, New England has totalled just 37 in the last two.

That isn’t likely to be enough against Manning unless the defence manages to shut him down.

“I wish there was a way we could just press a button or something,” McCourty said. “But it’s just hard work and I think time, putting the extra effort into it, watching film together — doing all that stuff I think will pay off for us.”