Through two games, the New England Patriots has been all Julian Edelman all the time. Last season, the Patriots had issues with not enough playmakers while this season features an upgraded receiving corps, but only Edelman is getting targeted. As the Patriots sit 1-1 on the year, Tom Brady is promising to start spreading the ball around more in order to get the team moving in the right direction.
Order was restored in New England when the Patriots beat the Minnesota Vikings following a loss to the Miami Dolphins. However, it is clear that there is an over-reliance on Edelman, something that must change. Edelman has 176 yards on the season to lead the receiving group while Rob Gronkowski is next with just 72 yards through two games. Brady realizes he must do a better job at moving the ball.
"Absolutely. I think that's definitely a big part of what we're trying to do offensively," Brady said, BostonHerald.com. "To make us hard to defend is to be able to throw the ball to everybody. Those guys [Edelman and Gronkowski] have seen the majority of the throws, and I've got to do a better job of finding the other guys. There's a lot of good routes, they're big targets, guys are working really hard to get open, so hopefully it shows up this week in our pass game. We're going to work hard on it this week to see if we can all be on the same page more often."
Bradys says the lack of targets to other receivers is not a result of poor chemistry, but more an example that the passing game is not functioning like the Patriots would like. Players like Danny Amendola, Tim Wright and Kenbrell Thompkins are waiting for their chance to prove to Brady that they too can be stars, but the quarterback must first spread the ball around and look their direction.
"But I don't think our passing game has been really stellar to this point, so it's hard to sustain much over the course of the game and get those guys the ball when we're not doing as good of a job as we're capable of," Brady said. "We've got to keep going after it, and guys get more opportunities to get balls, and I need to do a better job of finding those guys when they're open."
Brandon LaFell is another player hoping to start making an impact sooner rather than later. The wide receiver was New England's big offseason signing and Brady spent most of training camp raving about his talent level. The Patriots play the Raiders in Week 3 and will take the opportunity to once again beat up on the weaker unit.
