Moss was among 10 players on the injury report, joining fellow receivers Wes Welker (knee) and Julian Edelman (ankle), also a new addition to the walking wounded, as questionable.
Welker, who played in the opener against the Bills, did not play last Sunday but returned to practice Thursday. Belichick said Welker will once again be a game-time decision. Edelman, a rookie who played quarterback at Kent State, replaced Welker and had eight receptions for 98 yards against the Jets. Edelman participated in a limited role in practice this week.
The Patriots have had only four receivers active for the first two games of the season. Receivers filled up almost one-third of the injury report, meaning Joey Galloway, 37, and in his first season with the Patriots, and special teams captain Sam Aiken are the only healthy wideouts.
With quarterback Tom Brady trying to find his rhythm, Galloway was a frequent option last Sunday because Moss was double-teamed. Galloway and Brady were not in synch. Galloway had five catches for 53 yards, but he was thrown to 12 times. In fact, Galloway and Edelman were targeted by Brady 28 times but they combined for only 13 receptions.
Aiken can play offense and did last season occasionally, but wide receiver depth is clearly a problem. Terrence Nunn is on the practice squad, but the Patriots would have to make a corresponding move to promote him to the 53-man roster.
Asked if the team felt limited the last couple of weeks having only four receivers active, director of player personnel Nick Caserio said, “No, we realize there are only so many players we can go to the game with on a week-to-week basis. So, we’ve gone with four; sometimes we’ve gone with five. We’ve gone to the game with four receivers and felt confident in Sam if he had to go into the game, he’d go in and play well. So we haven’t felt there has been any sort of limitations with the game.’’
