Last season, Tom Brady was forced to play without three of his favorite targets. The New England Patriots lost Aaron Hernandez to off-the-field issues, Wes Welker to free agency and Rob Gronkowski to injury. He was left to make something out of nothing and while that did not turn out too bad for the Patriots, they needed upgrades in the offseason. New England answered by bringing on Brandon LaFell and re-signing Julian Edelman. Now, Brady is liking the look of his new offense.
Brady believes the Patriots' offense is in a much better place than it was last season. In 2013, New England did a overhaul of sorts, bringing on Danny Amendola, signing undrafted free agent Kenbrell Thompkins along with Aaron Dobson in order to make up for the losses. Because Brady is Brady, he made it work, but having everyone plus a few new faces back on the field for 2014 has the quarterback feeling much better.
"I hope we're at a better place than we were last year because we started pretty fresh last year," Brady said, via Comcast SportsNet New England. "We certainly have some new players, some new additions who are doing different things. Different guys are playing some different spots. But everyone's kind of got to find a role for themselves, and then we go out there and let it rip and see where we're at. And if it doesn't work, then we reevaluate, and if it works, then we keep doing it."
The Patriots believe everyone in the offense is on the same page, especially the receivers. Brady is ready to take advantage of the built-upon chemistry and hopefully make this season a championship one. The one lingering issue remains in the status of Gronkowski. The tight end may or may not be ready to play Week 1, something head coach Bill Belichick is not letting the media know ahead of time. As a result, the team traded for Tim Wright and he is making his case to be a starter early for the Patriots.
"We just got him, and he was able to come in here and learn enough to be able to go out there and play for us in a preseason game for 40-some snaps or whatever it was," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said, via MassLive.com. "He's working hard, certainly a bright kid and has some talent that hopefully we can utilize, and he just seems to fit in good and has a good attitude and work ethic. I'm just excited about seeing what we can do going forward."
Brady certainly agrees. After expressing his disappointment in the loss of Logan Mankins, the quarterback noted that if opposing defenses do not account for Wright, he will make them pay.
"If they don't cover him, we'll probably throw him the ball," Brady said.
