Patriots Rule Out Robert Spillane, Other Defensive Starters

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Fri, Dec 26 2025 9:04 PM UTC

The Patriots have ruled LB Robert Spillane, Edge Harold Landry, and DL Milton Williams out for Sunday's game against the Jets. It'll be the third straight missed game for Spillane, who also went inactive with his sprained ankle last week after being activated in an "emergency" role the game before. Landry missed practice all week with a knee injury. Williams is working back from an ankle injury that landed him on IR. He put in limited practices this week, but the team clearly deemed him not ready yet -- perhaps motivated in part by the matchup with a lifeless Jets squad.

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

Spillane's absence creates the most IDP opportunity.

I included LB Jack Gibbens among this week's IDP waiver wire targets after he tallied 19 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery over the past two games.

Gibbens sits in LB1 territory of our Week 17 rankings.

LB Christian Elliss also gets a playing time boost with Spillane sidelined but trails Gibbens in playing time and value.

The New England defense remains a strong play against the Jets even without these three starters.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.