Rob Gronkowski certainly showed no signs of rust in his first game back with the New England Patriots after rehabbing a torn ACL, but that does not mean the New England Patriots are looking to work Tim Wright more into the offense. As the Patriots work to fix their issues after getting upset by the Miami Dolphins, the team is looking to put the best offensive performers on the field and that includes Wright, but may not include Danny Amendola.
In Sunday's game, Gronkowski put up a strong 40 yards on four catches which shockingly ranked him at No. 2 in receiving for the team. The Patriots certainly showed some offensive struggle as the Dolphins snuck out with the 33-20 win, leaving Bill Belchick and company to reassess their game plan for Week 2. It includes giving Wright the ball more.
According to ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss, the Patriots want to work Wright into the offense and could reduce Amendola's time on the field. Reiss believes that New England is frustrated with the lack of progress by Amendola. He noted a player in the third quarter where Brady threw a screen to the wide receiver and Amendola only managed to pick up two yards on the catch. The explosiveness is simply not there whereas Wright has shown he can be a true star for the Patriots if they feed him the ball.
The tight end was targeting three times in the Week 1 loss and only played on 21 snaps total, but he still managed 15 yards, one shy of what Amendola put up. The important stat here is that Wright has been with the team just over two weeks after getting traded from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His ceiling for improvement is very high. Amendola has been with the team for over a year and is still struggling to make an impact.
Brady is desperate for offensive help. The ground game proved almost as ineffective as the passing game. Five players combined for just 89 yards total. Shane Vereen was handed the starting job and could only get 36 yards total. While turnovers can be credited as one of the biggest issues for the Patriots as Brady was credited for two of them, the lack of ball movement also stood out. If Belichick thinks Wright can fix that, fantasy owners should act now and pick him up.
