The Patriots only had running back Laurence Maroney for three games last season, and the Boston Globe reports the reason behind it was a broken shoulder. Here’s the story from today’s edition:

Laurence Maroney was trying to bang out hits last night in fellow running back Kevin Faulk’s charity softball game at Campanelli Stadium. But it’s the hits Maroney has received for a perceived lack of production and toughness that rankle him. Prior to the game, Maroney revealed that the shoulder injury that limited him to three games last season was a broken bone. He injured the shoulder against the Jets during the second game of the season, sat out a week, then came back against San Francisco Oct. 5, but looked tentative, refusing to lower his right shoulder for a first down.

After the game, Maroney said he had “issues.” The Patriots placed him on injured reserve Oct. 20. “I had a broken bone and I was trying to play with it,” said Maroney. “It’s kind of hard to sit here and play and not tell people what is going on. Everybody is going to think one way because they don’t really know what’s going on. I dare anybody in this crowd to play football with a broken bone in your shoulder and you tell me how long you’re going to last out there.”