FOXBOROUGH — Antonio Gibson delivered one of the early highlights of the year for the Patriots , ripping off a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown in Miami as Mike Vrabel sprinted along the sideline beside him.

But Gibson’s season has ended prematurely. The running back tore his ACL on a return in Buffalo and will be placed on injured reserve soon.

So who will replace Gibson on kickoffs? TreVeyon Henderson will remain in place on one side back deep, but there’s now a vacancy next to him.

“It was unfortunate to lose him. He was such a vital part of what we’d been doing and a great leader on the back end with a lot of experience,” special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said. “So it’s the next man up. That’s the way the mentality is in football and all sports, next man up. We’re getting

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