Injuries have headlined the 2013 season for the New England Patriots and the team is holding out hope the same is not true for 2014. After losing tight end Rob Gronkowski for the season once again, the team remains confident that after a successful knee surgery, the playmakers will be ready to start the 2014 season fully healthy.
Gronkowski's 2013 season was extremely short. After missing the first quarter of the year after multiple offseason injuries, the tight end is out again following an MCL and ACL tear after a hit placed by Cleveland Browns safety TJ Ward. The Patriots expect Gronkowski to have surgery in the next two weeks and begin rehab immediately afterwards. Many would assume that Gronkowski is not a lock to even play the 2014 season, but according to NFL.com, the tight end will be prepared to start the first week of next season.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are left to try and clean up the mess that is their offense. Losing to the Miami Dolphins was a clear example that Tom Brady can only do so much without the help of certain players. The quarterback notes that the team's margin of error is super slim and the offense needs to start taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. He is calling out everyone to start stepping up.
"Everyone up and down the roster has to do a better job, because, like I said, by no means are we running away from any team that we're playing; we haven't done it all year. We just haven't played well enough consistently to do that. If you're going to get in these games every week, then when we have opportunities to do it, we've got to take advantage," Brady said, via ESPNBoston.com.
With the absence of Gronkowski, Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins become extremely important. Both receivers were out against the Miami Dolphins, but are expected to return for the final two games. While Brady admits the injuries have hurt the team, he is not using them as an excuse noting, "No one feels sorry for the Patriots."
"The truth is we had plenty of chances anyway," he said. "Is it great to have everyone healthy? Yeah, of course it is. But that didn't matter yesterday. We had plenty of chances without those guys on the field. We just have to come up with ways to score more points, because it's not going to cut it, 20 points," Brady said.
