FOXBOROUGH - Vince Wilfork was not about to mask his disappointment. So, as he hobbled off the field after injuring his left foot in the third quarter of last Sunday’s 20-10 victory over Carolina, the Patriots’ nose tackle removed his helmet and flung it to the ground in frustration.
It was not a good sight for the New England defense, which had gone into the game shorthanded, with rookie tackles Myron Pryor and Ron Brace and linebacker Adalius Thomas among the inactives.
The manpower shortage only grew worse when on the fifth play of the fourth quarter, defensive lineman Ty Warren pulled up with an injured right ankle.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees had to cringe at the sight of Wilfork and Warren departing the game, leaving him to wonder: “Do we have enough defensive linemen?’’
“I think that any time I see anybody walk off the field, I don’t think we have enough of anything,’’ Pees said. “I’m just like every other coach in America. I wish we had more guys and more guys active and all that, but yes, certainly we don’t want to see anybody leave.
“It’s the same thing, though, when somebody goes down. Somebody else has got to step up and play and whoever that is - or if we have to change the scheme a little bit, that’s what we have to do. But I never want to see any of the starters, at any position, or really anybody on the entire defense, get nicked up or walk off the field that way. But, hey, that’s part of the game.’’
Warren echoed that sentiment yesterday when asked about Wilfork’s injury and his own. Wilfork was not in the locker room yesterday.
“It’s part of the game. It happens every game at every position at some point, so he’ll be OK,’’ Warren said of Wilfork. “That’s the name of the game.’’
Since the beginning of the season, Wilfork has had a reminder hanging from his locker of his objective this season. It reads, “Do My Job,’’ with the three exclamation points. Yesterday, though, Warren did not offer any predictions on whether Wilfork - or he, for that matter - would be healthy enough to do their jobs Sunday against the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
“I’m not saying like he’ll be all right for this game,’’ Warren said. “But his demeanor and the way he handles his business as a professional, he’ll be all right either way it goes. I’m not predicting that he’s going to be up for the game or not.’’
As for himself? “I’m feeling how I’m feeling,’’ Warren said with a chuckle.