Vince

Wilfork

Considering his responsibilities are far different than at Miami, Wilfork had an incredible first game with 7 tackles and a FR. The first-rounder is patterning his game after Pittsburgh’s athletic Casey Hampton.

Wilfork split time with Keith Traylor and recovered a key fumble in the Patriots end zone late in the fourth quarter. Ted Washington could not have run like that.

He’s still working with the third team. If often takes interior defensive lineman a while to adjust to the NFL.

Head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t elaborate on why either player was limited other than to say it was “not injury related” and “personal.” Both are fully expected to be active in Week 15 against the Broncos.

Wilfork was a late addition to the injury report on Saturday while the Patriots went through a final walk-through in London. He is listed officially as “probable” for Sunday afternoon’s game against the Rams at Wembley Stadium.

Brady’s cap hit is a whopping $21.8 million. Wilfork checks in at $10.6 million, and Mankins at $10 million. The Patriots’ nine highest-paid players will count roughly $65.95 million against the cap. Beat writer Tom Curran believes restructures are “certainly a possibility and may already be afoot.” However, the Pats were able to roll $5.6 million of cap space over from 2012, and aren’t believed to be facing a particularly rough cap crunch. Extending Brady beyond 2014 would be a simple way to free up space, but far easier said than done.

The Patriots have still yet to officially update their nose tackle’s status, but all indications are that he tore his right Achilles’ tendon in Sunday night’s win, and underwent surgery on Tuesday. Perhaps we’ll finally get official word when New England returns to practice on Wednesday. Wilfork can be safely considered out for the season, leaving Tommy Kelly, Joe Vellano and Chris Jones to pick up the pieces at the nose.

It’s as forthright as the ‘ol ball coach will ever get. Wilfork’s “serious injury” is believed to be a torn Achilles’ tendon, which would definitely be season-ending. Going on 32, Wilfork is signed through 2014. For now, the Patriots will mix and match with Joe Vellano and Chris Jones at nose tackle, while Tommy Kelly could see an increase in snaps. It’s one of the biggest losses the already banged-up Pats could have sustained.

If true, it means Wilfork’s season is over, and that the Patriots have a gaping hole on the front line of their defense. Wilfork went down in the first quarter of Sunday night’s win, and did not return. Wilfork has missed just six games in 10 NFL seasons, and zero since 2009. Joe Vellano and Chris Jones are next up on the depth chart, but the Pats will likely be in the market for help.

Wilfork has been dealing with the ankle/foot injury since last week and suffered a setback after having it stepped on in the first quarter. He was carted off the field and is questionable to return. His loss is a huge downgrade to the defensive line. The Patriots have just Tommy Kelly, Joe Vellano, and Chris Jones behind him on their active roster.