Patriots place Alijah Vera-Tucker on IR before matchup with Bears

The New England Patriots have placed left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker on injured reserve ahead of their Thursday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears. Vera-Tucker suffered a hamstring injury during last week's victory over the New York Jets and will miss at least four games. His absence compounds existing offensive line issues, as the Patriots are also without right guard Ben Brown and others. The Patriots will start Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor at guard in a reshuffled line. Both teams enter the game at 4-2 in a pivotal early-season matchup.

• 8:52 PMYahoo Sports — Patriots lose player to IR hours before Thursday Night Football