Rex Burkhead was running well this season and looked to be in the discussion for the Patriots’ most effective back. However, that all came to an end Sunday when he suffered a season-ending knee injury that may end his time in New England.

Related players: Damien Harris, James White, Sony Michel

Burkhead will be a 30-year-old unrestricted free agent and may not be in the plans for the Patriots moving forward. Harris, White and Michel, who didn't play in Week 11 but was activated, will lead the way at RB. It could continue to be a cloudy situation when it comes to the New England running backs especially if Michel is activated for Week 12.

Patriots running back Rex Burkhead left Sunday’s loss to the Texans with a knee injury and the fear after the game was that he tore his ACL.

Confirmation on that initial diagnosis won’t come on Monday. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that Burkhead did not travel back from Houston with the team on Sunday.

“He didn’t travel back with us from Houston. He’ll be coming back soon. We’ll do tests and evaluate him when he gets back,” Belichick said, via Doug Kyed of NESN.

Related players: Damien Harris, James White, Sony Michel, J.J. Taylor, Jakob Johnson

The story said further evaluation of his injury won’t happen until he does return. Michel is rumored to be back soon and would join Harris and White in the Patriots backfield assuming Burkhead is going to miss some time.

The Patriots are activating RB Sony Michel from injured reserve Saturday and he could play Sunday against the Texans.

This certainly makes for an interesting fantasy situation at the position for the Patriots, as Damien Harris has posted two games with 100 yards in the last three weeks and could continue to be the lead back in the group. How New England uses their former first-round pick after returning from a quad injury should be interesting but Michel has been practicing the past two weeks. Harris is currently a top-20 back and Rex Burkhead still sits in the top-25 for the moment in half-PPR.

The Patriots placed RB Sony Michel on the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday.

The team also placed OL Shaq Mason and DE Derek Rivers on the list. This is certainly a ding to the Patriots’ offensive line but they at least were able to gain confidence two weeks ago when Damien Harris had a very solid game against the Chiefs. He now looks poised to continue as the lead back on the ground with Michel out of the picture for the time being. As of now, the Patriots are still on track to play Sunday against the Broncos.

The New England Patriots have ruled running back Sony Michel out for Monday night's game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a quad injury.

Related players: Damien Harris

Michel, who had nine carries for 117 yards in a Week 3 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, had been limited in practice all last week. As the story said, the absence of Michel comes at the same time fellow running back Damien Harris is eligible to return to the game-day roster after having opened the season on injured reserve because of a hand injury. Harris, a 2019 third-round pick from Alabama, began practicing on Wednesday. Harris has been a popular stash in the fantasy world but his workload is a bit of a question. However, with Cam Newton out as well, it could be a run-heavy approach for the Patriots against the Chiefs.

Patriots RB Sony Michel is questionable for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.

Michel had his best fantasy week in quite a while during Week 3, and now he is injured and saw another running back come into the fold for touches. Figuring out the touch share in New England is going to be a headache (again).