Rookie DE Keion White leaves Patriots game with head injury

Patriots

The rookie defensive end appeared to hit his head on an attempted tackle.

New England defensive end Keion White will miss the remainder of Sunday’s Patriots-Raiders game after suffering a head injury, the team announced.

White was taken to the locker room for further evaluations. He was ruled questionable before being downgraded to out.

The rookie from Georgia Tech is one of the key pieces being used to replace Matthew Judon, who is expected to miss a significant amount of time due to an upper body injury.

“It will be multiple guys [filling in for Judon], obviously,” linebackers coach Jerod Mayo said earlier this month. “Keion is going to play more, simply said. We really need him to show up.”

The Patriots already have an impact rookie – first-round pick Christian Gonzalez – on injured reserve. The severity of White’s injury is unknown.

White’s injury appeared to happen on a play where he collided with Kyle Dugger on an attempted tackle.

White made his first start of the season against the Jets in Week 3. He’s played in all of New England’s games so far.