Shane Vereen, Jamie Collins Injury Updates

New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen is listed questionable on the injury report for today’s game against the Oakland Raiders, but, unlike Raiders RB Maurice Jones-Drew, he is expected to be available today, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

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Vereen suffered a shoulder injury that may have occurred during the game against the Minnesota Vikings, because he didn’t receive many touches last week. But he was limited throughout this week of practices, so the injury was never viewed as serious. Schefter’s report is nice confirmation that Vereen will be out there, and he has some nice upside this week against a weak D; the Patriots should get off to a quick lead on the Raiders.

While Vereen’s status is completely optimistic at this point, second-year linebacker Jamie Collins’s status is still unclear at this moment in time. According to the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe, Collins looks like a game-time decision today, and there’s a chance he’s a full-blown one at that. Collins missed last week’s game against the Vikings with a thigh injury, but he isn’t needed against another easy foe, especially since the Raiders rushing attack will be led by Darren McFadden with MJD out.

Hopefully Collins can join Vereen on the field today, but we’ll have to wait until the inactive lists are released to see if he’ll be out there. Collins had a big game in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins with eight tackles, a forced fumble, and a pass defended, and he’s one of the best young LBs in the game.