Jerod Mayo Has Sprained MCL

The news on Jerod Mayo is bad, but it isn’t that bad.  Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe reports:

According to two sources with direct knowledge of Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo’s injury, Mayo sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills.

One source said that Mayo was expected to be out 6 to 8 weeks with the Grade 3 MCL sprain, but the other source said that the timetable is “not that bad” and Mayo is expected to be back quicker than that.

Clearly, this is a big loss for the Patriots, as Mayo is arguably their best defensive player.  However, the good news is that Mayo will almost certainly be back for the stretch run, which is the most important thing.

In the mean time, the Patriots will certainly need to address the linebacker position.  The Pats could use Gary Guyton and Adalius Thomas interchangably on the inside/outside, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave Junior Seau a call earlier than expected, or even if they called the recently-retired Tedy Bruschi.

One interesting aspect of the Mayo injury is that the Patriots will play the 4-3 defense almost exclusively.  This could open up the door nicely for some other free agents who normally wouldn’t be a personnel fit (hint: Derrick Brooks).