UPDATE: The Boston Globe, per a league source, reports Faulk has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee.

The big news in New England on Tuesday is the status of injured RB Kevin Faulk, which is still squarely in limbo. Patriots coach Bill Belichick addressed Faulk’s knee injury during a conference call with reporters, but none of the signs appear to be pointing toward a positive outcome.

“They’re still working on it,” Belichick said, per the Boston Herald. “I think part of it is how things come around in the next day or so. We’re not even 48 hours yet. They said based on how that is, we’ll make a decision at that point.”

One way to read “they’re still working on it” is to presume doctors are waiting for any swelling to go down in order to conduct tests, or that they’re still waiting on conclusive test results. While the exact nature of Faulk’s injury isn’t known, Tom Curran of NECN writes the Patriots will have to prepare for a “long stretch” without their indispensable third-down back.

Without Faulk and Laurence Maroney, the Patriots suddenly look quite different at running back than they did two weeks ago. Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris and Benjarvus Green-Ellis could pick up some of the slack in Faulk’s role in third-down and shotgun packages, and it may turn out the signing of Danny Woodhead from the Jets came at a fortunate time.

– Frank Tadych

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