Jake Ballard battling knee soreness, still recovering from surgery

Since Gronkowski had surgery and Aaron Hernandez left his North Attleboro home in chains we have all wondered about the Patriots' depth at the tight end position. At 6'6' and 260 pounds Jake Ballard was the clear answer at tight end a month ago to most but now that is in question. Of the Patriots tight ends (Fells, Sudfeld, Hoomanawanui, Ballard and Ford) during OTA's, minicamp and now training camp Ballard has been the least impressive. Zach Sudfeld has by far been the most impressive while also taking a good share of first team reps.

Ballard missed practice on Saturday because of precautionary reasons according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. Ballard had ACL and micro-fracture surgery in February of 2012 after winning Superbowl 46 as a member of the New York Giants.

In training camp Ballard looks slow and cannot pivot out of turns quickly enough and hasn't been too good with his hands either. I believed at one point Ballard would fill the void until Gronkowski came back but now I'm not so sure.

You have to feel for the guy who's been through major surgery and still after a year cannot get back to his old self. It seems as if Ballard is just not there yet with his injury rehabilitation. Ballard will have to step it up quick and show what he's got especially on Friday against the Eagles in order to avoid consideration on the first cut list.

--Ian Kea
@Keachristophe