Patriots gridiron news: Bengals knew Rex Burkhead would flourish with Pats
Rex Burkhead is becoming the type of player with the New England Patriots that experts and players predicted he would be when he signed prior to the season.
In an unpredictable sport, sometimes things do go as expected. One of those expectations of course is the New England Patriots winning the AFC East. Another expectation that is coming to fruition is the emergence of running back Rex Burkhead.
Signed to a one-year deal prior to the season, the versatile running back was labeled as the perfect Patriot because of how dynamic of a player he was. With glimpses of his strong play spotlighted in Cincinnati, Bengals players knew once he got to New England, those glimpses would explode into something much more contributory.
"“Don’t let this guy getting the hands of a team like New England,” current Patriots linebacker and former Bengals player Marcus Flowers recalled, via MassLive.com. “I was back there (in Cincinnati) saying it. This dude gets into the hands of New England, that’s the only team that I thought – that I knew – it was going to be trouble.”"
Flowers went on to admit that everyone in Cincinnati knew what was going to happen once Burkhead signed with the defending Super Bowl champs. It took a few weeks, but the versatility of Burkhead is starting to shine when it counts the most.
Sidelined three of the first six weeks of the season. Rex Burkhead has contributed in three phases of the game. He has rushed the ball effectively, caught the ball out of the backfield and has blocked a punt. He has shown he can do everything and playing for the New England Patriots is exactly the perfect situation.
If he remains healthy, his emergence will only continue, especially heading into the postseason.
Belichick, Patriots had their eye on Nicholas Grigsby
The theme of this season for the New England Patriots appear to be monitoring players on opposing team’s practice squad units. While this may be something the team does every year, this season they have a trend of signing players from practice squads instead of any veterans who may still be out there.
The latest signee, linebacker Nicholas Grigsby, is someone Bill Belichick said has been on the team’s radar for a while. So when the opportunity presented itself, the team jumped on it.
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"“I thought at the end of the year last year for the Rams he did a good job for them,” Belichick said Wednesday, via Yahoo! Sports. “Not just in our game, but kind of that last third of the season. He did a solid job for them. We saw that. When he was released at the beginning of the year this year, we talked about him then. It didn’t really work out at that time. Didn’t have a roster spot.”"
While the Rams had nothing to play for at the end of last season, a player like Grigsby continued working hard and that hard work ultimately landed him a job with the prize organization of the NFL.
Trey Flowers, Kyle Van Noy questionable for Sunday
The New England Patriots could be without two of their top defensive players when they take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
According to Friday’s injury report, DE Trey Flowers (ribs) and LB Kyle Van Noy (calf) are amongst a long list of players listed as questionable. The other players include David Andrews (illness), Marquis Flowers (knee), Trevor Reilly (concussion), Eric Rowe (groin), Matthew Slater (hamstring) and LaAdrian Waddle (ankle).
Next: New England Patriots: 3 Reasons Rex Burkhead is the Perfect Patriot
While Marcus Cannon and Chris Hogan have been ruled out for the game on Sunday, Tom Brady and Danny Amendola will both be good to go in the AFC East showdown.