FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots boarded their flight to Denver on Friday afternoon having listed 21 players on their injury report, a group headlined by starting linebacker Jamie Collins, who is questionable with a back injury.
Collins didn’t finish Saturday’s divisional-round win over the Chiefs, leaving early in the third quarter after tackling wide receiver Chris Conley. He was limited in practice throughout the week.
Collins didn’t play in the Nov. 29 game between the Patriots and Broncos, and New England struggled against the run without him, especially after fellow starting linebacker Dont’a Hightower left the game due to injury late in the second quarter. Denver finished with 179 rushing yards on 32 carries.
In addition to Collins, the Patriots listed wide receiver Danny Amendola (knee), tight end Scott Chandler (knee), safety Nate Ebner (hand), wide receiver Julian Edelman (foot), linebacker Darius Fleming (shin/back), linebacker Jonathan Freeny (hand), tight end Rob Gronkowski (knee/back), Hightower (knee), guard Tre’ Jackson (knee), defensive end Chandler Jones (abdomen/toe), defensive end Rob Ninkovich (shin), special teams captain Matthew Slater (shin), center Bryan Stork (ankle), and offensive tackles Sebastian Vollmer (ankle) and LaAdrian Waddle (shoulder) as questionable.
All of those players were limited in practice throughout the week.
Five players are probable: quarterback Tom Brady (ankle), safety Patrick Chung (foot), guard Josh Kline (shoulder), wide receiver Brandon LaFell (foot) and safety Devin McCourty (ankle).
