Patriots place star offensive player on IR with knee injury ahead of stretch run

The New England Patriots just lost a key piece of their offense as they head down the stretch run Head coach Mike Vrabel disclosed Wednesday the organization placed star left tackle Will Campbell the No overall pick in the NFL Draft on IR with a knee injury The -year-old was carted off the field during the third quarter of the crew s - win over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday Campbell will be eligible to return for the group s Week challenge against the Miami Dolphins Vederian Lowe is expected to start in his place CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMThe Patriots are - winners of nine straight games and sit atop the AFC East They play the Buffalo Bills who are second in the AFC East at - in Week a battle Campbell will miss A big reason for the Patriots turnaround they were - last season is the unit s revamped offensive line In the crew s Week offensive linemen included Chukwuma Okorafor at left tackle Michael Jordan at left guard David Andrews at center Layden Robinson at right guard and Michael Onwenu at right tackle BILLS SIGN NFL VETERAN TO BOLSTER WIDE RECEIVING CORPSOver the offseason the club made additions to the offensive line through both the NFL Draft and free agency In their Week offensive line was Campbell at left tackle Jared Wilson at left guard Garrett Bradbury at center Onwenu at right guard and Morgan Moses at right tackle The remade offensive line has been critical in second-year quarterback Drake Maye s ascension into the MVP conversation this year Maye leads the NFL in completion percentage and yards while throwing touchdowns and six interceptions in games A huge reason for this spike in production is improved protection However Maye could be missing Wilson too The left guard also left the gang s win over the Bengals with an injury It is unclear if Wilson will be able to play against the New York Giants - on Monday Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter