New England Patriots' Stephon Gilmore (knee) ruled out for Buffalo Bills game

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots have ruled cornerback Stephon Gilmore out for Sunday's road game against the Buffalo Bills due to a knee injury.

Gilmore, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was involved in a collision in practice on Thursday, according to a source. He was a limited participant in practice that day, didn't practice on Friday, and had officially been listed as questionable on the team's injury report.

The Patriots (2-4) departed Saturday afternoon for their game against the AFC-East leading Bills (5-2) in Orchard Park, New York, and Gilmore isn't on the trip. Third-year player J.C. Jackson is projected to replace Gilmore, assuming the knee injury that limited him in Friday's practice doesn't keep him out.

The Patriots also ruled out rookie safety Kyle Dugger (ankle) and rookie offensive lineman Justin Herron (ankle) on Saturday. Both have been regular contributors for the Patriots this season.

In addition, the team previously had ruled out receivers Julian Edelman (knee) and N'Keal Harry (concussion), as well as defensive tackle Carl Davis (concussion). Edelman is expected to be placed on injured reserve after ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that he underwent a precautionary standard knee procedure on Thursday morning.

That will sideline Edelman for at least the next three games -- road contests against the Bills and New York Jets, and a home date against the Baltimore Ravens -- and possibly longer.

"I don't think this is a season-ending situation, but we'll see. I'm not a doctor," coach Bill Belichick said of Edelman on Friday. "Hopefully he'll be back. He has worked awfully hard. Nobody is more competitive than Julian is, so he'll do everything he can to be back out there.

"We'll see how it goes and hopefully he'll have a good recovery and be back better than where he was before the surgery. That's the whole point of doing the surgery is that the situation will improve."