FOXBORO -- In a sign they will likely miss Sunday's game in South Florida, Logan Mankins and Chandler Jones missed Patriots practice indoors Friday at Dana Farber Field House. Also missing were Rob Gronkowski, who will be out again with a broken forearm, and suspended players Brandon Bolden and Jermaine Cunningham.
Mankins hasn't practiced in three weeks since injuring his ankle against the Bills on Nov. 11 while Jones hasn't been with the team in drills since injuring his right ankle against the Colts on Nov. 18.
The Patriots moved their practice indoors Friday as coach Bill Belichick looked to turn up the heat in preparation for the 75-degree weather that is in the forecast for Sunday afternoon in Miami.
"Decided to take [the] suggestion and go inside, crank up the temperature," Belichick said. "We're trying to pull together our preparations and be ready to go on Sunday."
Belichick downplayed significant positive benefit when asked about it on Friday.
"Nah, I think it helps when you have a good team and you play well. That helps."
The team leaves Saturday for their 1 p.m. game Sunday afternoon at Sun Life Stadium. For more, visit the Patriots team page at weei.com/patriots [1] and the blog It Is What It Is [2].
Links:
[1] http://www.weei.com/patriots
[2] http://www.itiswhatitis.weei.com
[3] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/patriots