The New England Patriots are onto Week 5 in a Thursday night matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. While one star player is returning, another remains questionable.
The New England Patriots won’t have much time to celebrate a 38-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins. In a quick turn-around week, Bill Belichick and his team have to prepare for Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in a Thursday night showdown.
One main storyline to watch heading into this one is the return of Julian Edelman.
After missing the first four weeks of the season while servicing a four-game suspension due to use of an illegal substance, Tom Brady’s most reliable target is back. While Edelman’s presence should spark the offense in a major way, Belichick knows his veteran receiver has to catching up to do.
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In an appearance on WEEI, the Patriots coach talked about No. 11 and how much work he has to put in to catch up physically and mentally as he will need some time to get back into the flow of the offense after being away more than a season.
"“I know the play book and you don’t want me out there,” Belichick said, as transcribed by MassLive.com. “It’s the timing and the execution of it. When you’re by yourself as Julian has been, we’ve had other players in this situation before, you can run around the tract and do all the sit-ups you want. It’s different when you have 21 other guys on the field playing football. The timing the awareness, is just different. The space, and the players that are in that space, is something you can only get used to by doing it.”"
In serving the four-game suspension, Julian Edelman not only lost contact with the team for four weeks, but it has obviously delayed his attempt to come back at full strength following an ACL tear.
In a way, the extra time could benefit Edelman and the New England Patriots offense later in the season. For now, however, the team will have to ease the 32-year-old back into the flow of the game slowly. That process begins this Thursday night against the Colts.
Gronkowski and his nagging injury
While the offense up 38 points on Sunday, All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski was quiet for much of it.
The big tight end caught 4 passes for 44 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter due to an ankle injury. Now, the team didn’t need him for the rest of the game, but there was concern watching him limp to the locker room.
On Monday, reports surfaced from NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the ankle injury is not serious, but Gronkowski is questionable for Thursday night.
Patriots’ TE Rob Gronkowski’s ankle injury that prevented him from finishing Sunday’s game is not considered serious, per source. Gronkowski is expected to be questionable for Thursday night vs. Colts.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2018
With the offense still trying to find itself, despite the outburst against Miami, the team can’t afford to not have Rob Gronkowski out there. If he is not able to go, tight ends Dwayne Allen and Jacob Hollister will have to pick up some of the slack.
We all know Allen’s limitations in the passing game, but Hollister is a player who has showed progress in training camp and has earned some trust from Tom Brady. This could be a good game for him to break out in if indeed the team decides to take it easy with Gronkowski on a short week.
Sony Michel looks to follow up breakout performance
New England Patriots first-round pick Sony Michel silenced his critics temporarily on Sunday with a breakout performance.
The Georgia product rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, he showed flashes of just why the team selected him No. 31 overall.
"“It’s always great to go out there, just play football and the ultimate goal is to go out there and get a win,” Michel said following the game. “That’s why we play the game.”"
In missing just about all of the preseason with a knee ailment, Michel just needs reps to get his feet back under him. He also needs time to catch up to the fast pace of NFL action. That didn’t stop his critics from calling him a draft bust in his first two weeks of action and to silence them, Sony Michel will have to do it again against the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night.
Even then, a solid performance may not be taken seriously considering the fact that the New England Patriots always dominate the Colts on the ground. If he does have an explosive game, more emphasis will be placed on how he does it rather than him producing against a team that in the past has made any running back look good.
Remember Jonas Gray?