Stephon Gilmore injury update: Patriots CB placed on PUP list

With Stephon Gilmore going on the PUP list, the New England Patriots will have to adjust.

The New England Patriots will be without one of their best players to start the season, as they had to place cornerback Stephon Gilmore on the PUP list.

The four-time Pro Bowler, two-time First-Team All-Pro and the 2019 AP Defensive Player of the Year is still recovering from quad surgery he had at the end of last year. While New England should be able to get by without their stalwart cornerback, the Patriots are probably not sniffing the NFL playoffs if he is not able to return at some point this year and continue to play at a Pro Bowl level.

With Gilmore starting the season out on the PUP list, when can we expect him to return this year?

Stephon Gilmore injury update: When can he return from the PUP list?

So with Gilmore out for the first six games of the 2021 NFL campaign, the absolute earliest we can reasonably expect him to return is Week 7 at home vs. the division rival New York Jets. Gilmore will miss the Patriots’ first game against the Jets in Week 2, as well as the Week 4 home date vs. Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So he will be missed.

The Patriots will have to tread water in the secondary for the next six weeks without Gilmore.