When the New England Patriots boarded their flight from Providence to Cincinnati on Saturday, linebacker Jahlani Tavai was not with the rest of the team. While healthy, he was ruled out of the game for what was announced as personal reasons by the club.

The exact nature of Tavai’s absence is not known, and something the Patriots themselves are understandably not willing to address. However, they showered the 29-year-old with love following their 26-20 victory over the Bengals.

“We’re glad to get the W for him,” said cornerback Marcus Jones, who returned an interception for a touchdown during the game. “It’s just one of those situations where we hate it for him and everything, but when it comes down to football, he loves the game of football. We definitely did it for him.”

“We just wante

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