The New England Patriots rolled into this season with one of the league's deeper backfields, but depth suddenly is an issue for New England.
Stevan Ridley is officially out for Sunday's tilt with the Cincinnati Bengals. Ridley was not on the field for Friday's practice, according to ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss. The team's starting running back hasn't participated all week because of knee and thigh injuries.
With Shane Vereen also out, look for LeGarrette Blount to see plenty of time against the Bengals. It also means a bigger workload for Brandon Bolden, but Blount is the next man up.
Few teams do a better job of rotating runners and leaning on different backs from week to week, so the Patriots should be fine.
The "Around The League Podcast" handed out our quarter season awards this week.