New England Patriots free safety Devin McCourty injured his ankle against the Houston Texans, but initial reports are that he was withheld for precautionary reasons.

McCourty had his ankle rolled on by a Texans offensive player, and the Patriots safety limped around on another play before going to the sideline. The current belief is a fairly mild sprain to the ankle, and the Herald's Jeff Howe made it clear that it isdefinitely an ankle injury and not an Achilles issue, which means that he shouldn't miss much time, if any at all.

ESPN's Mike Reiss was noted as hearing the injury "was nothing too too bad."

Devin McCourty gets his ankle rolled up. #patriots https://t.co/PjWsTJkan5 — Mike Loyko (@NEPD_Loyko) December 14, 2015

McCourty pulls up after non-contact. pic.twitter.com/fEZvbntnuk — Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) December 14, 2015

While it would be nice for the full defense to be on the field at any given week, it seems like McCourty should be okay and any injury shouldn't be lasting.

In other injury updates, linebacker Jonathan Freeny was seen with a cast after the game. Jerod Mayo took his role in the lineup and unsurprisingly outplayed him for yet another week. Hopefully Freeny won't miss any time, though, because he's an excellent special teams player.

Defensive tackle Dominique Easley drew attention for his injury, but he remained on the sideline and worked out on an exercise bike. It's very rare for a player to have a serious injury and to continue to remain on the field, so it's likely a minor issue that won't hold him out for much time. Since he was on a bike, it was likely trying to work out some tightness in his quad, which aligns will his leg giving out on the play.

Easley is clearly concerned about his knees and his reaction was extremely similar to Rob Gronkowski against the Broncos- anything that might be scary gets magnified a trillion times due to the history.

Running back LeGarrette Blount did not return to the field after halftime after suffering a hip injury. This will be more important to monitor as the Patriots are dangerously thin at running back. We will provide updates as they are available.