Henderson Out Week 1 vs Seahawks

TreVeyon Henderson is inactive for Week 1 against the Seahawks. The Patriots running back sat out practice all week with an ankle injury and was ruled out for Wednesday night's opener at Lumen Field, per NBC Sports, SI, and the NFL.com injury report.

That hands the early-down and receiving work to Rhamondre Stevenson in a Super Bowl rematch on NBC. New England also sat center Ben Brown (knee), plus CB Karon Prunty, LB Erick Hunter, OT Walter Rouse, WR Efton Chism, and QB Behren Morton.

Stevenson as the clear workhorse

Henderson not practicing all week made the inactive list feel inevitable, and fantasy boards already moved Stevenson into RB2 territory for the kickoff slate. Practice-squad elevation Lan Larison and Corey Kiner fill out the backfield depth behind Stevenson. For a Patriots offense adding A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs around Drake Maye, losing the explosive second-year back still changes the run-game script.

Seattle's side of the inactive sheet is messy too. Safeties Nick Emmanwori (ankle) and Ty Okada (hamstring) are out, and WR Tory Horton (hamstring) is inactive, which bumps Rashid Shaheed for deep looks. The Seahawks also sat G Beau Stephens, QB Jalen Milroe (emergency third QB), TE Nick Kallerup, and DE Mike Morris.

Opener stakes without Henderson

Mike Vrabel's group is a road underdog in the rematch of Super Bowl LX. Without Henderson, New England leans on Stevenson between the tackles and Maye's weapons outside. Seattle opens with Jadarian Price as the featured back while Charbonnet stays on PUP, so both backfields look different than April draft boards imagined.

For Patriots fans, the ankle timeline after Wednesday is the next question. One missed opener is manageable if Henderson is back for Week 2. Fantasy managers who drafted him early are parking him for this slate and riding Stevenson. Live, watch how often New England sticks with the run against a Seahawks defense that just won a title.

Christian Barmore (knee) was listed as questionable on the SI tracker, so the defensive interior still has a game-time flavor even with Henderson already ruled out. The bigger offensive picture is Maye with Brown and Doubs while Stevenson absorbs every early down. Henderson is out. Stevenson gets the rock. Kickoff still belongs to whoever finishes drives in Seattle.