The New England Patriots knew they were letting a known quantity go when they allowed Wes Welker to leave for the Denver Broncos and while the team signed Danny Amendola, they knew his injury history and now that may come back to bite the Patriots this season.
Amendola tweaked his groin in the opening game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 and after missing the Week 2 game against the Jets, ESPN.com is now reporting that he could need surgery on his hip. Fox Sports initially reported the story and that could be bad news for the Patriots, as they are dealing with Rob Gronkowski's recovery from surgery as well as frustrations from Tom Brady after players like Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins dropped multiple balls in the win on Thursday night.
The Patriots knew that their offense would be lacking a bit without Welker, Gronk as well as Aaron Hernandez after his murder situation, but losing Amendola from that equation puts things in a very tough spot. The team expected Amendola to slide in for Welker and even if he missed time, they figured it wouldn't be for anything serious, but now he could be out for an extended period of time. Amendola made 10 catches for over 100 yards against the Bills and many felt he would be okay after returning to that game following his groin injury.
Amendola missed most of the past two seasons, playing in only 11 of 32 games and now he could be out for even more time and this comes at a rough point for the Pats, as they also lost running back Shane Vereen to wrist surgery and he will be out until Week 11. The team has Julian Edelman as the main receiver now and that means they could look to the free agent market and one name that is familiar with the team is Brandon Lloyd. The team has Josh Boyce as well as Thompkins and Aaron Dobson on the roster, but those players are rookies and Lloyd would be a veteran presence on the field.
Last season Lloyd finished with 74 receptions for over 900 yards and four scores, but coach Bill Belichick decided to go younger and cheaper at the position, so the Pats released him. Lloyd had some interest from the Ravens at one point after Jacoby Jones went down, but now he likely will retire if another team doesn't sign him. Lloyd played in all 16 games last season and averaged over 12 yards per catch and he was very good at converting third downs from Tom Brady.
The fact that Lloyd may already be comfortable with Brady could be one reason why the team could go after him, but if Amendola can avoid surgery, they likely will play with what they have on the roster already. Losing Vereen is a big hit as well, since he is good out of the backfield and could be a safety net for Brady and with Danny Amendola now in San Diego, weapons for Brady seem to be dropping like flies.
