The New England Patriots offense continues to be the talk of the team. Sitting at 2-1 on the year, the Patriots failed to beat up on the significantly weaker Oakland Raiders, settling for more field goals than touchdowns. Most of the questions New England needs to answer are in regards to the offense and Rob Gronkowski believes one of the answers is to give him more playing time.
The Patriots have remained cautious with Gronkowski and for good reason. The tight end's last two years have been marred by injuries keeping him off the field more times than on. After tearing his ACL in December last season, the Patriots have been slow to work him back into the offense. Gronkowski was inactive for all of training camp and the preseason, but has slowly been building his way backup. Now he feels ready for more playing time.
"I've been in about three games deep now," Gronkowski said, via the Boston Herald. "So basically, it's just progressing every week but it's getting to the point where we can start rolling more and more. ... I don't want to go out to the game and be limited, so I always want to play as much as I can because I like being out there. So it's up to the coaches and when my number is called, I'm going to go out there."
Through three games, Gronkowski along with Julian Edelman remains the Patriots' best offensive performer. He has 11 catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns so far. Edelman has 260 yards total while Kenbrell Thompkins comes in at third with a disappointing 53 yards total. Gronkowski might be right in his assessment of giving him the ball more. Right now, Aaron Dobson, Danny Amendola and Brandon LaFell are not contributing the way the Patriots were hoping and the only answer might be more passes to the tight end.
None of the receivers can do their jobs though if Tom Brady continues to struggle. The quarterback was less than great against the Raiders going 24 of 37 in passing for 234 yards total. He missed several throws and never looked truly confident in the pocket. The offensive line played a large part in Brady's poor play, something that must be adjusted.
