Danny Amendola returns to practice, Gronk looking better
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| Danny Amendola's back! |
The two best pieces of the Patriots offense also have some extensive injury historys.
New receiver Danny Amendola has only played in 12 games the past two seasons. So, when he sat out last week's practice and game with an undisclosed injury, it was a bit worrisome.
Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski has similar injury woes, having his forearm opened up for surgery multiple times since November. To top it all of, he's currently recovering from back surgery he had in June and is expected to miss at least the first three weeks of the season.
That's a lot of bad news about a Patriots offense that got absolutely destroyed last Thursday night against the Lions, 40-9. Thankfully, we've got some good news on both fronts.
Ben Volin, BostonGlobe:
First, receiver Danny Amendola returned to practice after missing both practices last week and Thursday’s preseason game against the Lions. It is unclear why Amendola missed practice, but he is back in action and should be ready to go when the Patriots play the Bills Sept. 8...
...And most important, tight end Rob Gronkowski was seen doing agility drills with a trainer for the first time all training camp, and looked smooth and relatively healthy as he returns from back surgery. Gronkowski, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, ran short sprints forward, backward, and sideways inside a group of cones, and also caught and threw passes with his trainer.
When the Patriots finally do get both Amendola and Gronk on the field together, they are going to be very tough to beat. Of course, whether or not they can accomplish this is very much in the air.
The Patriots are no stranger to playing without their full hand, as they went nearly the entire season last year without both of their star tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Gronkowski, on the field due to injury.
Volin also points out that other players such as Ras-I Dowling, Jermaine Cunningham and Alfonzo Dennard all returned to the field in some form or another.
