Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley left Sunday's game with a back injury and is questionable to return. We'll see about the severity. He showed up on the injury report this week with a toe issue but was back to full practice by Friday.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley missed Wednesday's practice with a toe injury. We'll watch his participation the rest of the week. If Bentley misses Sunday's game at Pittsburgh, then Raekwon McMillan would presumably lead New England off-ball LBs in playing time.

The Patriots on Saturday activated LB Ja'Whaun Bentley and edge Matt Judon from the COVID list. That should make each available for Sunday's game against the Jaguars.

The Patriots on Monday placed EDGE Matt Judon and LB Ja'Whaun Bentley on the COVID list. We'll see whether either can make it back onto the active roster -- and into IDP lineup contention -- ahead of Sunday's game against Jacksonville.

Patriots S Adrian Phillips (knee) is active for today's game with the Bills. He arrives as a nice upside IDP play. DT Christian Barmore (knee) and LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (ribs, ankle) are also active after arriving questionable.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley left Saturday night's loss to the Colts early with an ankle injury and did not return. He had been dealing with a rib injury for a while that rendered Bentley questionable (at least by Patriots standards) for a string of games. We'll see about his Week 16 outlook, but this is probably enough to knock Bentley out of consideration in most IDP leagues.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (ribs), LB Dont'a Hightower (ankle), LB Kyle Van Noy (groin) and DB Jalen Mills (thigh) are active for today's game against the Browns. They arrived questionable but have played through questionable tags for weeks.

These notable Patriots defenders who entered the weekend questionable are active for today's game against the Panthers: DT Christian Barmore (foot), DB Kyle Dugger (neck), Ja'Whaun Bentley (ribs), Dont'a Hightower (ankle), Kyle Van Noy (groin).

All the defensive starters New England listed as questionable for today's game against the Chargers are active. That includes LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (ribs), DB Kyle Dugger (neck), DT Davon Godchaux (finger), LB Dont'a Hightower (ankle), LB Kyle Van Noy (groin) and DE Deatrich Wise (knee).

The Patriots rolled out their usual list of questionable starters Friday, this time including LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (ribs), DB Kyle Dugger (neck), DT Davon Godchaux (finger), LB Dont'a Hightower (ankle), LB Kyle Van Noy (groin) and DE Deatrich Wise (knee). We'll check the status for all Sunday afternoon. All of those players put in limited practices all week.

As usual, myriad Patriots defenders wound up questionable for today's game against the Jets. LB Dont'a Hightower (elbow, ankle) is inactive. All other questionable defenders are active. They include: DT Davon Godchaux (finger), DE Deatrich Wise (knee), DT Christian Barmore (shoulder), LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (ribs), S Kyle Dugger (knee), CB Jalen Mills (hamstring), S Adrian Phillips (back) and LB Kyle Van Noy (groin).

Patriots CB Jalen Mills is inactive for today's game against the Texans. LB Ja'Whaun Bentley, LB Kyle Van Noy and S Kyle Dugger are active, after arriving questionable.

The Patriots list LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder), S Kyle Dugger (hamstring), LB Kyle Van Noy (groin) and CB Jalen Mills (hamstring) as questionable for Sunday's game against the Texans. Bentley put in limited practices all week but also did so in Week 4 before missing the Sunday night game against Tampa Bay. Van Noy opened the week with no Wednesday practice before 2 limited workouts. Dugger and Mills were limited all week. We'll update the statuses on all 4 Sunday morning.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder) is inactive for Sunday night's game against the Buccaneers. S Kyle Dugger (hamstring) and LB Kyle Van Noy (groin) are active, despite entering the day questionable.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder), LB Kyle Van Noy (groin) and S Kyle Dugger (hamstring) are questionable for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers. All 3 put in limited practices each day this week. Dugger looks most iffy after his injury arose Thursday. The Sunday night kickoff means you probably shouldn't wait for any of them in your IDP lineup.

Patriots DE Lawrence Guy, S Devin McCourty, LB Ja'Whaun Bentley, DT Adam Butler and CB J.C. Jackson are all active for today's finale against the Jets after entering the day questionable.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder) and DE Lawrence Guy (shoulder) are inactive for tonight's game against the Bills. Questionable defenders CB Jonathan Jones (neck), CB J.C. Jackson (knee), DE John Simon (hamstring) and DT Adam Butler (shoulder) are active.

Patriots LB Ja'Whaun Bentley left Sunday's loss to the Dolphins early with an arm injury. In his absence, Terez Hall stepped in for 13 tackles (12 solo). We'll see about Bentley's status heading into next Monday night's game against the Bills. Given that it's the Patriots, though, we wouldn't expect a whole lot of info. New England also watched DE John Simon (hamstring) and CB Stephon Gilmore (leg) leave the Miami game with injuries. We'll see about them for Week 16. Neither has been an IDP worth waiting for, though Gilmore could see an uptick in opportunity volume for the Buffalo matchup.