The Patriots placed offensive lineman Michael Onwenu on injured reserve on Sept. 22, thinning the interior of a position group that was already the team's most fragile. New England filled the vacated 53-man spot by signing punter Mitch Wishnowsky from the practice squad, and added tight end Tanner Conner to the practice squad.
Onwenu's placement costs New England a minimum of four games, and interior offensive line is the worst place on a roster to absorb that. Guard and center depth gets solved with practice-squad call-ups and cross-training, which means the Patriots are now asking a backup to hold up in the run game and in protection on a weekly basis rather than in spot duty. There is no clean external fix this time of year. The realistic path is shuffling the five they have and hoping nobody else goes down.
Wishnowsky's promotion is the more informative half of the transaction. New England elevated him from the practice squad on Sept. 19, then three days later moved him to the 53 outright instead of continuing to burn game-day elevations. Teams do that when they've stopped auditioning. Wishnowsky is the punter now, and the practice-squad churn at that spot should stop.
Conner fills the practice-squad vacancy Wishnowsky left behind and gives the Patriots a call-up option at tight end, where the third body on the depth chart is typically a blocking and special-teams piece rather than a route runner.
My read: the Onwenu loss is the story, and it's a bigger problem than the punter move is a solution. Expect New England to work out offensive linemen this week and to sign at least one to the 53 by the weekend. If they don't, they're betting that the five in the building stay healthy the rest of the way, and that's a bet this roster hasn't earned.
