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The injuries seem to be piling up for the New England Patriots right now. First, wide receiver Julian Edelman left Tuesday's practice with an injury to his surgically repaired left foot (it's not considered serious). Then Rob Ninkovich was forced from practice with a triceps injury that will require an MRI.

Ninkovich has been a consistent presence in the New England front seven since coming to the team from the Miami Dolphins back in 2009. He has alternately played defensive end and linebacker as the Patriots have shifted back and forth between 4-3 and 3-4 fronts, and he's started 90 of the 111 games in which he's appeared for the Pats, including all 16 games in each of the last five seasons.

He's notched at least 6.5 sacks in each of those seasons, making him one of just four players in the league (along with Ryan Kerrigan, Julius Peppers, and Cameron Wake) to do so. Though he has not been selected to a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro team, Pro-Football-Reference pegs him as the 16th-most valuable defensive lineman in football during that time.

Ninkovich is again expected to play a big role in New England's defensive front and the Pats will feel it if he has to miss time, but the one area of the defense in which they can withstand an injury is probably the defensive line. They signed Chris Long earlier this offseason to rotate in at end, and still have Jabaal Sheard (who was excellent in 2015 after coming over from the Browns), Alan Branch, 2015 first-rounder Malcom Brown, run-stuffing tackle Terrance Knighton, and a plethora of mid-to-late round picks from the last few years to work in behind them.