Josh McDaniels implies that Jonas Gray may see more time

Photo from CSNNE

The Patriots have a dilemma on their hands - how do they replace Stevan Ridley in the run game? Someone else is going to have to step up and carry some of the load alongside Shane Vereen. Of course, there are options - Brandon Bolden, James White, and Jonas Gray. And, according to Josh McDaniels, we could be seeing a lot more of Gray in the future. He only played 12 snaps against the Jets, but he made an impression, McDaniels told CSNNE.

"Jonas works really hard," McDaniels said. "He’s been well prepared and done a great job for us on the scout team since he’s been here and certainly I think made the most of his opportunities in the preseason and just continues to prepare like he’s playing each week and had an opportunity last week to come up and help us out, and I thought he did a good job in his role."

"Did a good job of running hard and runs behind his pads, stays low, not the easiest guy in the world to bring to the ground because he’s a thick guy with the ball," McDaniels said of Gray. "He stepped in there and picked up the blitz a couple times the other night. So, just a young guy who’s eager to do whatever is asked of him, and we’ll continue to work with him and see if we can’t continue to build on what we did the other night with him."

We'll see if Gray does get more snaps against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but it sounds like that's a distinct possibility, at least according to McDaniels. I hope that's the case because, with Gray's 5-11, 230 LB frame, his usefulness extends beyond just running the football - he's great against the pass rush, as he demonstrated against the Jets when he had 4 blocks and a blitz pickup on Thursday night. I personally look forward to what he could bring to the able if he does get more time.

Thoughts? Let me know on Twitter (@C_Frederick1016) or leave a comment below.