The New England Patriots are hosting the New York Jets for the first game of Week 2 and it will be the first broadcast of the season for Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network and after a win against the Bills, the Pats offense comes in banged up and some names to start/sit for the game include Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Rob Gronkowski, LeGarrette Blount and Zach Sudfeld.
The Patriots entered the season with less weapons than last year after Wes Welker left for the Denver Broncos and Aaron Hernandez was arrested for murder and heading into the first game, Sudfeld, Kenbrell Thompkins and Amendola were slated to be the best new targets. Tom Brady has shown in his career that it doesn't matter who he is throwing to, he can still put up great numbers and he did that again on Sunday, hitting Amendola like he was Welker, as the wideout finished with 10 catches for 104 yards and one touchdown to go along with 14 total targets.
Amendola should fit in perfectly as the replacement for Welker, but after tweaking his groin against the Bills in the Week 1 win, he likely will not play on Thursday night against the Jets. Amendola has missed a ton of games and has only played in 11 of 32 over the last two seasons, but this time around the groin issue doesn't appear to be that serious, but rather the Patriots want to take it easy on him so that he can be fully healthy for next week. The Thursday turnaround is usually tough and while it is likely that he will be back for Week 2, it's no certain thing. Amendola is a hard SIT on Thursday.
The absence of Amendola opens up some possibilities for fantasy owners, as Julian Edelman and Kenbrell Thompkins should be STARTED on Thursday night and especially Edelman. Brady has a familiarity with Edelman over Thompkins and other rookies and that is one reason why he targeted him nine times against the Bills. Edelman finished with seven catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns in the game and now he should be considered a hard start for fantasy owners until Amendola returns.
The absence of Gronkowski and Hernandez has also opened tings up for Edelman as well as rookie Zach Sudfeld and Edelman could do some damage against the Jets on Thursday night. He is still available in over 40 percent of ESPN leagues and in leagues with PPR rules, he should be a prime option going forward for New England. Thompkins is another interesting option and while he had just four catches on Sunday, Brady targeted him 14 times and since he is a rookie, he will slowly get more and more comfortable with Brady. He finished with just 42 yards, but with his size he could be a nice threat for the team.
The running back position is all up in the air, but after Stevan Ridley fumbled in Week 1, Shane Vereen came in and rushed for 104 yards and caught seven passes, but now he will have wrist surgery and will be out until Week 11 at least. Brandon Bolden and Blount as well as Ridley now have a boost and are good starts against the Jets.