Slater injures shin covering punt vs. Chiefs

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FOXBORO -- Patriots special teams ace Matthew Slater did not participate in Wednesday's walkthrough due to a shin injury he suffered in his team's Divisional Round win over the Chiefs. 

The injury occurred in the second quarter with just under 11 minutes remaining, and it came as a result of a collision with a photographer. 

Lined up at the 11-yard line, Slater took his place wide on the left side of the Patriots formation as a gunner. At the snap, he released outside and tried to get around a Kansas City double-team in front of him by running along the sideline. 

Chiefs special teamer Jamell Fleming blocked Slater as the two went out of bounds, and Fleming gave Slater an extra shove as Slater continued to get up the field while still out of bounds. 

Slater's momentum carried him into an NFL Films photographer who was positioned inside a yellow dotted line that surrounds the Gillette Stadium playing field. Following that collision, it appeared that, from the coaches film, Slater ran into a second photographer.

Slater tried to stay with the play, and he almost got into position to make the tackle, but Chiefs return man Frankie Hammond avoided him and brought the punt back to the Patriots 36-yard line.

Both NFL Films and CBS were permitted to be inside the yellow dotted line around the field. But perhaps the incident could have been avoided altogether had someone -- in the name of player safety -- warned photographers that the action may be carried out of bounds, as it often is on punts.

As for Fleming's block on Slater, Rule 12 Section 2 Article 6 of the NFL rule book indicates that his last-second shove could have been called a penalty.

"There shall be no unnecessary roughness," the rule reads. "This shall include, but will not be limited to . . . a player of the receiving team who has gone out of bounds and blocks a kicking team player out of bounds during the kick." 

The rule is accompanied by a note that states: "Defensive players must make an effort to avoid contact. Players on defense are responsible for knowing when a runner has crossed the boundary line, except in doubtful cases where he might step on a boundary line and continue parallel with it."

The Patriots had 15 players who were limited at Wednesday's practice inside the Empower Field House, including linebacker Jamie Collins (back), linebacker Darius Fleming (back/shin), guard Tre' Jackson (knee), defensive end Chandler Jones (abdomen/toe) and Bryan Stork (ankle).

Collins, Fleming and Stork were added to the injury report with injuries they suffered against the Chiefs. Collins' was significant enough to knock him from the game, and his status bears watching this week. Meanwhile Stork missed some time but returned against Kansas City, and Fleming may have explained the origins of his shin injury to reporters on Wednesday.

Jackson was inactive for the Divisional Round and was not spotted at the start of Wednesday's practice. Jones left the Chiefs game with a knee injury, but it's worth nothing that his knee was not listed on the injury report. 

Here's Wednesday's full practice participation/injury report for the Patriots and Broncos:

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

DID NOT PARTICIPATE
WR Matthew Slater (shin)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
WR Danny Amendola (knee)
TE Scott Chandler (knee)
LB Jamie Collins (back)
DB Nate Ebner (hand)
WR Julian Edelman (foot)
LB Darius Fleming (back/shin)
LB Jonathan Freeny (hand)
TE Rob Gronkowski (knee)
LB Dont'a Hightower (knee)
G Tre' Jackson (knee)
DE Chandler Jones (abdomen/toe)
DE Rob Ninkovich (shin)
C Bryan Stork (ankle)
OT Sebastian Vollmer (ankle)
OL LaAdrian Waddle (shoulder)

FULL PARTICIPATION
QB Tom Brady (ankle)
OL Josh Kline (shoulder)
WR Brandon LaFell (foot)
S Devin McCourty (ankle)

DENVER BRONCOS

FULL PARTICIPATION
S Josh Bush (shoulder)
TE Owen Daniels (knees)
ILB Todd Davis (shoulder)
G Max Garcia (groin)
CB Chris Harris Jr. (shoulder)
QB Peyton Manning (foot)
ILB Brandon Marshall (ankle)
QB Brock Osewiler (knee)
S Darian Stewart (hamstring)
S T.J. Ward (ankle)
OLB DeMarcus Ware (knee)

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