Report: Patriots LB Spikes to IR for ‘lateness’
New England Patriots’ linebacker Brandon Spikes has been placed on season-ending injured reserve for being late to practice, in part anyway, according to an ESPNBoston.com report.
Apparently Spikes was late for the Patriots’ Friday bye week practice — one of many reported incidents this season — and head coach Bill Belichick had seen enough. Spikes has suffered from a knee ailment for most of the year but did play in all 16 regular season games.
The 4th-year linebacker out of Florida – he was a 2nd-round pick by New England in 2010 — recorded 86 tackles and had an interception in 2013.
From the ESPNBoston.com report:
"The Patriots and Spikes mutually agreed to the IR designation as opposed to an outright release, which would have made the linebacker available to the remaining playoff teams."
Spikes was the third-leading tackler on the Patriots this season despite being hobbled by the knee injury. He will be a free agent in March.
Tom Brady and the Patriots take on Andrew Luck and the Colts tonight at 8:15 ET. Last week, Luck picked up his 1st playoff victory in the NFL with an impressive second-half comeback performance against the Kansas City Chiefs.
While comebacks are not unfamiliar to Patriots’ fans – by any stretch of the imagination – Luck and the Colts are coming off of one that saw them down by 28 points in the third quarter. It should be an interesting matchup of youth vs. experience, to say the least.