Cole Strange’s season is over after the Patriots announced they were placing the second year guard on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Strange hurt his knee in Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Chiefs. It is an unfortunate blow considering the fact that Strange had been playing well of late. Bill Belichick reiterated that fact when he met with the media on Monday. 

“The more he’s been able to stay on the field, the better he’s gotten.” Belichick added,  “I think he’s played better through the more recent weeks of the season. He missed quite a bit of time there early in the year in training camp, which slowed him down. But I think he’s been playing his best football lately.”

Strange has started all 29 games he has played in and while the results have been mixed at times for the 29th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, he still figures heavily in the team’s future plans.

Rookie Atonio Mafi took over for Strange and is slated to start at left guard for the reminder of the season.