Morgan Moses and Reggie Gilliam sitting out practice on Thursday is the kind of development that forces a hard look at where New England's offensive line actually stands. These aren't backup-level bodies. Moses is a starting caliber tackle, and Gilliam, your fullback in the running game, is a core piece of the ground attack scheme. When both go down simultaneously, you're not just shuffling a couple backup reps around—you're testing whether the depth chart can hold up.
Under Mike Vrabel's regime, the expectation is that injuries get managed intelligently. Skip a Thursday practice, get bodies right by Sunday. That's the theory. But it matters who's replacing them in the drill work. Can the offensive line cohesion survive even short-term absences? And what does a fullback absence mean for the running game install? These are the questions that surface when your key contributors aren't on the field, even for a day.
The real concern isn't one day of practice. It's the pattern. If Moses or Gilliam are dealing with something more serious, the Patriots suddenly have serious gaps to cover. That's not panic territory yet—it's just reality. This early in the season, health is everything.