Farsala said:
Meh non contact is about as uneventful as getting injured while with the practice squad :P. Will Brady make someone else a star? or will he just throw to Gronk more making him more likely to get injured, who knows. |
Patriots believe it's a torn ACL; MRI tomorrow to confirm.
Right off the bat, this is obviously a major blow to the Patriots, though how big will depend largely on how well some of the newer Pats' receivers can adapt to the quick slot routes that New England has been known for since Wes Welker was brought in. I don't think Brady will make up for this by just throwing a bunch more passes to Gronk; teams already paid a ton of attention to him when Edelman was in the lineup. I'd look for either Chris Hogan or Malcolm Mitchell to largely try and fill that role, and become a much bigger focus of the passing offense as a result (although Hogan was a major target tonight). Alternatively, the Pats could try converting one of their pass catching backs (James White or Dion Lewis) to slot receiver. I wouldn't count on seeing Amendola more, however; his injury history is extensive and the Patriots have made a habit of mostly saving him for third downs, crucial drives, and playoff games.
One player who this will likely positively affect is Austin Carr; an undrafted rookie out of Northwestern who looked pretty impressive in the first two preseason games where he had significant action. Given how loaded the Patriots were at WR, it was expected he would probably be a practice squad player (best case), but with Edelman likely gone for the year he could very well step in and see playing time. He's looked very comfortable with the Welker/Edelman-esque crossing routes, which is another bonus to him.
