FOXBORO — Two Patriots rookies have big shoes to fill for the next four games.

Patriots free-agent-prize defensive tackle Milton Williams was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a high ankle sprain. He must miss a minimum of four games, meaning he won’t be able to return until Week 17 at the earliest.

The Patriots play the Bengals, Giants, Bills and Ravens in that timespan. They also have their bye in Week 14.

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Fortunatley, the Patriots have proven to have solid depth at defensive tackle behind Williams and fellow starter Christian Barmore. Khyiris Tonga has been one of the Patriots’ biggest steals in free agency, and Cory Durden has emerged as a valuable role player since being added in August after roster cuts.

The Patriots also have two rookies, Joshua Farmer and Eric Gregory, who will need to step up in Williams’ absence.

“Eric Gregory played in a game for the first time. I thought he battled and is continuing to improve in the show team stuff and practice,” head coach Mike Vrabel said Monday. “We’ll hopefully get Josh back. I would say that [Jeremiah] Pharms [Jr.] is doing a great job as well on the show team and is ready to go in there at any point. So, I think we’re okay there as far as the depth. We’ll just have to keep working, keep moving along.”

Gregory, who was claimed off waivers from the Bengals after roster cuts, played 15 snaps Thursday night in his NFL debut. He had a run stuff in one of his first NFL plays.

Farmer, a fourth-round pick out of Florida State, missed Thursday night’s game with an ankle injury. He’s played 168 defensive snaps this season and generated seven pressures, one batted pass, two run stuffs, 11 tackles and a fumble recovery this season.

The Patriots’ run defense suffered without Williams on the field in Thursday night’s win over the Jets.

“We won’t have Milt, so for the foreseeable future, he’ll work hard to get back,” Vrabel said. “So, that’s really where our focus is. It’s not so much as a reflection as it is just focusing on how do we get the guys ready to perform and continue to improve. I think the thing we’re trying to get everybody to understand is how much this is a progress league, and to be able to improve as the season goes on. And so, we’ll have to do that without Milt, who’s one of our contributors and is a big part of what we’ve done. But we’ll have to do it without him here for a few weeks.”

Tonga has also taken on a role on offense as a fullback and has contributed on special teams. Vrabel said the team might have to consider scaling those roles back.

“Those are things we have to consider,” Vrabel said. “But it’s also – we have to do everything that we can do to try to put the pieces together to help us win. We just have to be able to play the game and put the guys where we expect them to. Any sort of injury can occur on any play at any point in time in football. So, every play is critical.”

The Patriots, up to his point in their 9-2 season, have had good injury luck. Running back Antonio Gibson was previously the most significant player to be placed on injured reserve since the season began.