Mike Onwenu Suffers Broken Right Ankle, Leaves Patriots with Offensive Line Crisis Ahead of Jaguars Trip

New England Patriots right guard Mike Onwenu suffered a broken right ankle during Sunday’s 20-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, with initial X-rays confirming the fracture and the injury considered likely to end his season. Onwenu was carted off the field in the first quarter after Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt landed on his lower leg while attempting to sack quarterback Drake Maye.

The injury occurred with under a minute left in the first quarter, with New England already up 7-0. Watt lunged at Maye as the quarterback rolled to his right, and Watt’s body fell into the back of Onwenu’s leg, driving his ankle awkwardly beneath him. Replays showed Onwenu’s foot twisted in an unnatural direction. He stayed on the ground for several minutes before being helped up and loaded onto a cart, unable to put any weight on the leg, and was ruled out for the rest of the game shortly after.

A Brutal Blow to New England’s Offensive Line

Onwenu is the longest-tenured player on the Patriots roster and has been one of the most durable and productive linemen in franchise history, missing just two games over the last four seasons while making 92 career starts. He signed a three-year, $57 million contract with New England in 2024 and entered this season in the final year of that deal. Pro Football Focus had rated him as the league’s highest-graded pass-blocking guard entering Week 2, making the loss especially costly for a Patriots team leaning on a young quarterback in Maye.

Former NFL team physician David Chao offered a blunt assessment on social media, describing the injury as a right-leg fracture likely requiring surgery that would end Onwenu’s season. Fantasy Points injury analyst Jeff Mueller echoed that read, suggesting the ankle may have fractured and possibly dislocated. New England’s official injury designation remained a right ankle injury as of Sunday night, and the team has not confirmed a surgery timetable or officially ruled Onwenu out for the year, though the outside medical consensus points squarely in that direction.

Veteran Greg Van Roten stepped in at right guard and finished the game, playing 40 offensive snaps and allowing just two pressures with no sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Van Roten, 36, signed with New England in August as interior offensive line depth after stops with the Packers, Panthers, Jets, Bills, Raiders and Giants. He started all 17 games at right guard for New York last season and has appeared in 144 career games with 105 starts. Backup Ben Brown is also on the depth chart as additional interior line insurance.

What It Means for the Line in Jacksonville

The timing stings for a Patriots team that just found its footing. New England travels to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3, and Jacksonville opened as a 2.5-point favorite with the total sitting at 44.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook. Prediction markets have shown a similar lean toward the Jaguars, with aggregated pricing putting Jacksonville near 54 percent to win before Sunday’s injury news fully filtered through the market.

Losing the interior anchor of the offensive line for a quarterback still building chemistry behind him is exactly the kind of news that tends to nudge a spread further in the opponent’s favor, particularly against a Jaguars defensive front that will look to test New England’s interior protection early. Bettors tracking the Patriots’ season-long win total and playoff futures should also expect those numbers to soften; losing a top-graded starting guard for the year is a tangible dent in the offensive infrastructure protecting Maye, and futures markets are typically among the first to react once a season-ending designation becomes official. Until the team confirms the full scope of the injury, expect any further line movement on the Jacksonville matchup, along with New England’s postseason and division futures, to hinge on updates about Onwenu’s recovery timeline and how Van Roten and Brown hold up in his place.