The Patriots will be without key offensive, defensive and special-teams contributors when they take on the Saints this weekend.
Danny Amendola (concussion/knee), Dont'a Hightower (knee), Matthew Slater (hamstring) and Vincent Valentine (knee) were all held out of Friday's practice and the team has determined that they're unable to play Week 2.
Adam Butler (knee) and Cameron Fleming (ankle) were full participants and should be good to go against the Saints, while Marcus Cannon (ankle), Nate Ebner (shoulder) and Devin McCourty (groin) are questionable.
We laid out the ways in which the Patriots may cope without Amendola and Hightower (and Slater) here. Because there aren't any sure-thing one-for-one substitutions for any of those players, their absences will in all likelihood have to be made up for with contributions from multiple Patriots.
The injury report for Sunday's Patriots-Saints game:
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
OUT
WR Danny Amendola (concussion/knee)
LB Dont'a Hightower (knee)
WR Matthew Slater (hamstring)
DT Vincent Valentine (knee)
New England Patriots
QUESTIONABLE
OT Marcus Cannon (shoulder)
DB Nate Ebner (shoulder)
S Devin McCourty (groin)
OFF THE LIST
DL Adam Butler (knee)
OT Cameron Fleming (ankle)
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
OUT
T Terron Armstead (shoulder)
T Zack Strief (knee)
QUESTIONABLE
LB Stephone Anthony (ankle)
DE Trey Hendrickson (illness)
LB Nate Stupar (hamstring)