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After flying through the night to Germany, the New England Patriots took to the pitch for a Thursday walkthrough in Munich. Getting ready for their Week 10 matchup with the Detroit Lions, the 5-4 Patriots have some work to do if they want to get back into the win column.
Part of that is getting healthy. Injuries continue to plague this team all year and it's led to several players missing practice throughout the season. On Wednesday, before their flight, the Patriots had practice with seven players missing.
Now in Munich, they got good news about some of those banged-up players. Tight end Cameron Latu (hamstring), offensive guard Walter Rouse (concussion protocol), safety Brenden Schooler (hamstring) all returned to practice after missing yesterday's session.
Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who missed the first practice with a knee injury, returned, but was working out by himself at the start of practice.
Stevenson, who suffered a knee injury against the Green Bay Packers last week, would be a surprise if he ended up playing against the Lions. Reports indicate he's dealing with a tendon issue that could hold him out of Sunday's game.
Having him back on the field in some capacity is a good sign for one of the team's most consistent players.
"There's a chance that anything could happen, but I'm not going to speculate on any of that," Mike Vrabel said when asked about if Stevenson lands on IR. "You guys are just – let's get past the injuries here. Let's try to focus on the Lions and what we need to do to try to find a way to win the game. But the injuries and the injured reserve, I mean, if you pay attention, we don't have too many spots left here to bring guys back on injured reserve."
If Stevenson isn't able to go, the brunt of the running game will fall on Corey Kiner and Lan Larison. Terrell Jennings is also on the practice squad as a depth option.
Ahead of their trip, the Patriots already ruled out three players — running back TreVeyon Henderson, offensive guard Ben Brown and cornerback Carlton Davis. Henderson has dealt with a neurological health scare that sent him to the hospital, while both Brown and Davis left last week with knee injuries.
It's been a trying season for Brown and Davis, who have spent a lot of time trying to get healthy at different points in the year.
The Patriots will have another practice on Friday ahead of their game on Sunday against a really good Detroit team.
"I'm excited to get ready for the Lions," Vrabel said. "That's it. It's what we were trying to do before. I think it was good to be able to get in here Tuesday afternoon to kind of get a jump start on things, understand the schedule and how we're traveling and the intent of it. It's another good football team, so that's where our focus is."