LIVE: Welcome to Ford Field

DETROIT – Welcome to Ford Field where the Patriots will take on the Detroit Lions in their Week 3 matchup.

The Patriots will be down three defensive starters before the game kicks off. The team downgraded Trey Flowers (concussion), Patrick Chung (concussion) and Eric Rowe (groin) to out on Saturday night. None of the three players made the trip to Detroit with their teammates. With Jacob Hollister (chest) also ruled out, the Pats are a bit short-handed in this matchup. [...]

DETROIT – Welcome to Ford Field where the Patriots will take on the Detroit Lions in their Week 3 matchup.

The Patriots will be down three defensive starters before the game kicks off. The team downgraded Trey Flowers (concussion), Patrick Chung (concussion) and Eric Rowe (groin) to out on Saturday night. None of the three players made the trip to Detroit with their teammates. With Jacob Hollister (chest) also ruled out, the Pats are a bit short-handed in this matchup.

Tweets by MarkDanielsPJ

Both Flowers and Chung suffered concussions in the Patriots loss to Jacksonville, so their status isn't surprising. Rowe, however, is a surprise. It was unknown that he suffered his groin injury against the Jaguars, but was limited all last week. Although it was thought that Rowe was benched against the Jags, it's quite possible that he didn't play due to the groin injury. The cornerback missed a handful of games last year with a similar injury.

The biggest worry is on defense going up against Matthew Stafford and his talented group of offensive weapons. With two starters in the secondary out, the Patriots will likely rely on some newcomers. Although Duron Harmon easily steps into the starting safety spot and Jason McCourty will likely start opposite of Stephon Gilmore, this could be a chance for a rookie like J.C. Jackson or Keion Crossen to make their NFL debut.

On the defensive line, the same goes for Derek Rivers. The 2017 third rounder hasn’t played in an NFL game, but should be active with Flowers out.