AP

The Patriots had wide receiver Julian Edelman as their backup quarterback last night. He might have to start next week.

According to Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com, Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett suffered a torn thumb ligament in the second half of last night’s win over the Texans, and may need surgery to stabilize the injury.

That’s a huge blow for the Patriots, one game before Tom Brady’s return from suspension. Jimmy Garoppolo was inactive last night because of his shoulder injury.

The Patriots brought T.J. Yates and Sean Renfree in last week to look at potential depth signings, and they may need to add one to get them through their final Brady-less game.