Pats-Broncos inactives: Bennett's active, Gillislee isn't

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DENVER -- Martellus Bennett will be in uniform and ready to go for the Patriots just a few days after re-joining the team. 

The tight end came into the game as questionable due to a shoulder injury, but when the Patriots released their inactive list for Sunday night's game against the Broncos, Bennett wasn't on it. 

He'll join Rob Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen and Jacob Hollister as the tight ends on the active game day roster. How might he contribute in his first game with the Patriots since Super Bowl LI? Glad you asked. We listed some of the areas where he could help here, including in the red zone.

The majority of the Patriots inactive list comes as no surprise: Cassius Marsh (shoulder), Eric Rowe (groin) joined Chris Hogan (shoulder), Marcus Cannon (ankle) and Malcom Brown (ankle) among those too injured to play. Cole Croston is a healthy scratch, as he has been every week this season.

The other healthy inactive? Running back Mike Gillislee. The Patriots have had five running backs active on game days in recent weeks, but with Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead taking on bigger workloads of late, that made Gillislee a candidate to be scratched. Gillislee does not contribute on special teams, which is why he'd be left off the roster as opposed to someone like Brandon Bolden, who is a core special-teamer.

Both Danny Amendola (knee) and Stephon Gilmore (ankle/concussion) were questionable coming into the game but took part in a lengthy warm-up before the game and looked ready to go. 

The complete lists:

PATRIOTS
OT Marcus Cannon
OT Cole Croston
RB Mike Gillislee
WR Chris Hogan
OLB Cassius Marsh
CB Eric Rowe
DL Malcom Brown

BRONCOS
CB Lorenzo Doss
RB De'Angelo Henderson
LB Joe Jones
QB Paxton Lynch
OT Donald Stephenson
WR Jordan Taylor
DE DeMarcus Walker

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