Patriots

Jul 12, 2023

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Bolden collided with a teammate early in the fourth quarter

Saturday night’s preseason game between the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers was suspended with over ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, following a scary collision involving Patriots rookie cornerback Isaiah Bolden.

Bolden was covering a receiver on a slant route, and collided with teammate Calvin Munson. Following the collision, Bolden lay motionless on the turf at Lambeau Field, as medical personnel quickly came to his aid.

You can view the play in question here.

Following the collision, players from both teams gathered as Bolden was attended to by medical personnel, and taking from the field on a medical cart. New England head coach Bill Belichick and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made the decision to call the game early:

Upon mutual agreement of the teams, tonight's game between the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers has been suspended.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bolden was reporting feeling in all his extremities but was being transported to a local hospital for evaluation:

Patriots’ cornerback Isaiah Bolden, per the team, “had feeling in all his extremities, but has been taken to a local hospital for further tests and observation.”

On Sunday, Schefter shared this update on Bolden’s condition:

An update from the Patriots’ on the condition of cornerback Isaiah Bolden: pic.twitter.com/RNzzdfdpuL

Following the game, Belichick spoke about Bolden, and the decision to call the game early. “The last situation, in the bigger picture, overrode the game,” Belichick said. “All saying a prayer for Isaiah. … Appreciated the way the league handled it. I think that was the right thing to do. … Kind of regroup and talk about the game later. But that’s kind of where things are for right now.”

New England special teams ace Matthew Slater praised both head coaches.

“I really appreciate what Coach Belichick did tonight,” said Slater. “He took the initiative on that and look — this is not the AFC Championship. We’re not playing for records. This is preseason game two. We have an injury like that, it affects a lot of guys in a lot of different ways. And clearly our team was shaken by what happened. And I think Coach made the right decision.”

“I think that was tremendous leadership by him. I have to say, honestly, that was one of the proudest moments I’ve had as a guy who’s played for him for, now, 16 years to see what he did,” added Slater. “There was no hesitation. I appreciate Coach LaFleur as well for standing with him on that. I think everybody acted swiftly and it was the right call in this situation.”

Bolden began his college football career at Florida State before transferring to Jackson State. He was selected in the seventh round by the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft.

This piece has been updated with post-game quotes from Bill Belichick and Matthew Slater, as well as the Sunday update on Bolden’s condition