Health Before Football: The Patriots Put TreVeyon Henderson on Injured Reserve as an Unexplained Illness Keeps Him Out of Munich

The New England Patriots will play one of the biggest games of their season an ocean away from home without one of their most explosive young players, and the reason has nothing to do with a hamstring or an ankle.

The Patriots placed running back TreVeyon Henderson on injured reserve Saturday with an illness, on the eve of Sunday morning's game against the Detroit Lions in Munich, Germany, Boston.com reported. The move means Henderson will miss at least the next four games, and the earliest he could be activated is ahead of Week 15, according to Bleacher Report.

Henderson had already been ruled out of the Munich game. The Patriots' final injury report listed him out with an illness, along with offensive lineman Ben Brown (knee) and cornerback Carlton Davis III (knee). Putting him on injured reserve opened a roster spot, and New England used Saturday to bring two players back from IR, which Pats Pulpit identified as interior lineman Greg Van Roten and fullback Reggie Gilliam.

This is not a routine football injury. Earlier this month, Henderson said he had spent several days in the hospital after a medical emergency involving what he described as "unexplained neurological symptoms," Yahoo Sports reported. He has since said his test results were encouraging, but no cause has been identified, Bleacher Report noted. He has not played since late October.

Put plainly, a young man went through a frightening medical episode that his doctors still cannot fully explain. That is a burden no contract, no depth chart and no playoff race can lighten, and it is the part of this story that matters most.

The Patriots deserve credit for taking the long view. Injured reserve removes any temptation to rush Henderson back for a big December game, and it gives him and his family room to get the answers they need without a weekly status question hanging over every practice. In a league that sometimes treats players like replaceable parts, that is the right call, and it is the kind of call that builds trust inside a locker room.

Plenty of people across New England, and well beyond it, will be praying that the answers come soon and that they are good ones. Football will still be there when he is ready.

On the field, the timing is hard on New England. The Patriots (5-4) take on the Lions (6-2) at Munich's Allianz Arena, NFL.com noted in its preview of the game.

The backfield is the immediate concern. Rhamondre Stevenson is one of nine Patriots listed as questionable for Sunday, with a knee injury, according to the team's own injury report analysis. Star receiver A.J. Brown (ankle, knee) and veteran safety Kevin Byard III (chest) are also on that list. With Henderson gone and Stevenson uncertain, Gilliam's return gives New England another body in the backfield, and Van Roten adds depth up front at a time when the offensive line is also short a player.

How New England handles that uncertainty will be one of the first storylines of the NFL Sunday. Fans in the eastern United States will be waking up to this one, and the Patriots will need a clean, physical game plan to keep pace with Detroit.

For Henderson, the calendar now matters far less than the diagnosis. Under the injured reserve rules, the earliest he could rejoin the active roster is ahead of Week 15, and there is no guarantee he will be ready then. His health, not the schedule, will decide it.

For the Patriots, the next few weeks will test their depth at running back and their ability to win games with a short-handed rotation. For everyone else, the hope is simple: that a talented young player gets healthy, gets answers and gets back to doing what he loves when the time is right, and not a moment sooner.