The New England Patriots can't afford any long-term injuries on the offensive line and it looks like they may have dodged a big bullet with Marcus Cannon. Late in the game against the Steelers, the left tackle went down with a shoulder injury and had the team scrambling.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, even though Cannon left the locker room in a sling, the injury isn't considered to be long-term or season-ending.
Some context with Patriots starting right tackle Marcus Cannon’s shoulder injury: It is not considered anything season-ending, or long-term in nature, per a source. Cannon underwent tests Monday after landing hard on the shoulder in the fourth quarter Sunday night.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) September 10, 2019
Even though this isn't considered long-term, Cannon could still miss Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins and more should be known as the week goes on.
For the rest of Sunday's game, the Patriots moved Joe Thuney to right tackle and brought in Jermaine Eluemunor to play left guard. If Cannon does miss games, it's unclear how exactly the team will move forward with the offensive line.
The team could also decide to bring in Korey Cunningham, who was a healthy scratch in the Patriots' first game. The team traded for Cunningham a couple weeks back and they didn't feel he was quite ready to open the season.
With another week under his belt, the Patriots should feel more comfortable with him and they could make him active to replace Cannon. If they bring him in to start, that would allow the team to keep the rest of the offensive line in place, like they did in the first game.
If they don't feel comfortable with Cunningham starting, they will probably move Thuney to right tackle and bring in Eluemunor to play left guard again.
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