Rhamondre Stevenson knee injury will test Patriots' RB depth further for Lions game

The 5-4 New England Patriots already knew they'd be without running back TreVeyon Henderson versus the 6-2 Detroit Lions in Munich, Germany, on Nov. 15 after he recently "experienced an unexpected and unusual medical emergency involving a series of unexplained neurological symptoms that required hospitalization for several days." 

On Monday evening, it was learned that New England RB1 Rhamondre Stevenson also won't play in Germany.

Rhamondre Stevenson out at least one game

Per ESPN's Mike Reiss and Chad Graff of The Athletic, Stevenson suffered a knee injury that is said to be "a knee tendon issue" late in the third quarter of the club's 45-27 blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday. Stevenson won't require surgery, and New England enters its bye week following the Detroit game. 

"After that," Graff explained, "[Stevenson] can be re-evaluated, and the team can determine then whether Stevenson will need to miss additional games." 

Graff also added that "Henderson remains out indefinitely." 

ESPN stats show that Stevenson ended Week 9 leading the Patriots with 102 carries and 399 rushing yards. He rushed for a pair of touchdowns over New England's first nine games of the season, and he has also contributed 26 receptions for 258 yards with a pair of scores. 

Patriots to embrace next-man-up mentality

Before the latest Stevenson news broke, it was said that the Patriots were not expected to make a big-name acquisition before the NFL trade deadline arrives at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Assuming New England doesn't trade for a proven ball-carrier, third-choice option and second-year undrafted player Corey Kiner could serve as New England's primary back against the Lions. 

Kiner has rushed for 244 yards and a touchdown on 50 carries this season. 

"Do I think that Corey can handle that workload? I think Corey is working extremely hard," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said Monday. "I think Corey has done a really nice job. But there are also some things that Corey has to be able to improve on, just like a lot of guys, as far as recognition of the pressure and then the ability to block the pressure that we saw (against the Packers), for example."

As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Patriots as 2.5-point underdogs against the Lions.