Patriots Gridiron News: All Eyes on Martellus Bennett

New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett will have an opportunity to fill the shoes of Rob Gronkowski.

Martellus Bennett has enough talent on the football field and enough personality off the field to more than make up or the void left by Rob Gronkowski. The New England Patriots tight end is one of the reasons why losing Gronk for the remainder of the season isn’t as devastating as it was in previous seasons.

Together, Gronkowski and Bennett presented a dynamic 1-2 tight-end combination, but now Bennett must become the sole threat he was with the Chicago Bears. He has done it at times without Gronkowski on the field already. If he is to do it the remainder of the season and into the playoffs, he knows he must maintain his own health.

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"“Only thing I can control is what’s going on with my body — cutting my grass before I cut someone else’s,” Bennett said Thursday as he nurses a shoulder and ankle injury. “I use that analogy because a lot of people tend to other people’s garden[s] and never worry about the weeds in their own garden. Therefore your garden gets overflowed with weeds, and your flowers die.”"

In other words, it will take a healthy Bennett to take on some of the role left by Gronkowski. Tom Brady and the Patriots can’t afford to lock in on the big tight end or else they will end up going from two dominate tight ends to zero tight ends with the ability to create mismatches all over the field.

All eyes are on Martellus Bennett, but he needs to heal before he can become the sight on the field that we know he can be.

Rob Gronkowski on IR: All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski successfully underwent back surgery Friday, but has been officially placed on injured reserve.

The big tight end finishes the season with 25 receptions for 540 yards and three touchdowns. His impact in the offense will have an impact, but the Patriots should have enough player makers to overcome.

Alan Branch: The Patriots did receive good news on Saturday. Per Field Yates of ESPN, defensive tackle Alan Branch has won his appeal for violating the NFL’s drug use policy and will not have to serve any part of a four-game suspension.

Branch is having one of his best seasons in the NFL and would’ve been a tremendous loss for a Patriots defense trying to find its way late in this NFL season.

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