Shane Vereen turned in a career game on Sunday afternoon, filling in for the hard luck Stevan Ridley and proving that he can carry the load as an NFL featured back - but he's going to have to wait a couple of weeks before trying to build upon his fast start.
Vereen broke a bone in his wrist on the first play of the game against the Buffalo Bills, but pulled a page out of Logan Mankins' book on toughness and went on to accumulate 101 rushing yards on 14 carries, and added 58 yards on seven catches as his New England Patriots came from behind to beat the Bills 23-21.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports is reporting that Vereen as or will go under the knife Monday and will likely miss 2-3 weeks.
The Patriots were already banged up on the offensive side of the ball with multiple weapons on the mend, so losing the versatile Vereen is a big blow. Vereen assumed the feature back duties in Buffalo after Ridley was benched by Coach Bill Belichick for fumbling twice in the first half, and responded with the most productive day as a professional football player.
With the 3rd year back out, the onus falls back to both Ridley to carry the load and also onto seldom used Brandon Bolden to pick up the slack as the Patriots 3rd down "Passing back". The rest of the depth chart consists of Legarrette Blount - who could find himself as the lead back if the team can't find confidence in Ridley holding onto the ball - and newly resigned special teamer Leon Washington.
Vereen will surely miss Thursday night's game against the New York Jets, but it remains to be seen if a 10 day layoff between hosting the Jets and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be enough time for the California product to make it back onto the field.
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