FOXBOROUGH — Linebacker Steve Beauharnais has been ruled out of Sunday’s AFC Championship game by the Patriots, after he missed Friday’s practice with an illness.
Beauharnais hasn’t been a big contributor for the Patriots, playing in just four of their first 17 games. If he was dealing with the same medical issue that forced Tom Brady and Danny Aiken to miss Wednesday’s practice — especially with the team taking a four-hour flight to Denver Friday — and the chance of Beauharnais playing against the Broncos was slim to begin with, better to just keep him home, so others won’t catch it.
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Three Patriots are listed as questionable: receivers Aaron Dobson (foot) and Kenbrell Thompkins (hip/concussion), and punter Ryan Allen (shoulder).
The complete reports:
NEW ENGLAND
Out
LB Steve Beauharnais (illness)
Questionable
P Ryan Allen (shoulder)
WR Aaron Dobson (foot)
WR Kenbrell Thompkins (hip/concussion)
Probable
WR Danny Amendola (groin)
CB Alfonzo Dennard (knee/shoulder)
LB Dane Fletcher (groin)
LB Dont’a Hightower (ankle)
G Logan Mankins (ankle)
RB Shane Vereen (groin)
DENVER
Probable
S Mike Adams (thigh)
TE Joel Dreessen (knee)
S Duke Ihenacho (knee)
T Winston Justice (finger)
G Chris Kuper (ankle)
QB Peyton Manning (ankle)
WR Demaryius Thomas (calf)
CB Kayvon Webster (thumb)
Michael Whitmer can be reached at mwhitmer@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeWhitmer.