The New England Patriots need someone back from injuries. The team suffered their first loss of the year and need to bounce back immediately against the Philadelphia Eagles, but in order to do that they need someone healthy. Injuries have hit the roster hard in the past few weeks and the Patriots are missing a number of their playmakers right now. Heading into Week 13, Danny Amendola looks like a lock to play, but Rob Gronkowski might not be.
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, Amendola is expected to play in Week 13. The wide receiver has been dealing with a knee injury suffered in Week 11 that caused him to miss the matchup against the Denver Broncos. This could be big for the Patriots. When Julian Edelman went down with the broken foot, Amendola stepped up immediately and produced big games. There is no question the Patriots need that again. Alongside the receiver, Brandon LaFell, Keshawn Martin and Chris Harper will round out the core group that Tom Brady has to work for.
Gronkowski might not get on the field as quickly. After getting carted off the field against the Broncos, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that there no damage to the tight end's knee and it was merely a deep bruise and mild strain. That led many to believe Gronkowski could get back on the field quickly, but the tight end stressed he will take his time.
"I am thankful that it is nothing serious," Gronkowski said, via Mark Daniels of theProvidence Journal. "I love playing the game of football. Whenever it is taken away from you, you definitely get a feeling that you appreciate the game so much. I'm just week-to-week. I'll be working hard to get back out on the field as soon as possible. When I am 100 percent, feeling good, cleared by all the doctors, the team, that is when I will be back. There's no timetable for that. I'll just be working hard and trying to get 100 percent as soon as possible. I can promise you that."
Gronkowski understands how difficult injuries can be. The tight end has dealt with a number of them before. He has no intentions of rushing himself back which will make Scott Chandler a big x-factor for New England in Week 13. As the only healthy tight end on the roster, Chandler needs to step up in a big way. Brady expressed his confidence in the tight end this week hopeful that he can produce on Sunday.
"We will need to rely on [Chandler] quite a bit," Brady said, via ESPN.com. "He is going to be a major contributor for our team. It was good to see him do that [against the Broncos] and we will see how it will go going forward."
