Patriots CB Aqib Talib may be back Monday
New England Patriots’ cornerback Aqib Talib has been out with an injured hip since October 13th.
The outspoken corner will likely be ready to go when the Patriots face off against the red hot Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football.
“He’s continued to progress. We’ll keep doing, as they can tolerate it, do more and evaluate how they do at a little bit higher level,” New England head coach Bill Belichick said, according to a report from the Associated Press. “Then if that goes well, then ramp it up and see where we are as we go through the week.”
The Patriots are 7-2 – leading the AFC East by 2 games — and the Panthers (6-3) have put themselves in great position in the NFC after their current 5-game winning streak – including a 10-9 victory over the 49ers in San Francisco last Sunday.
Talib leads the Patriots with 4 interceptions, despite missing all that time. Belichick had a lofty comparison for the former 2008 1st round draft pick by Tampa Bay.
“Maybe Ty (Law) would be similar in that he was a good corner and you could put him on a lot of players and not maybe feel like you need to give him a lot of help,” he said. “I think Talib is a guy that we have a lot of confidence in and probably would treat his matchups a little bit differently than we’ve treated some other ones in the past.”