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But rookie offensive tackle Cameron Fleming saw considerable action as an extra tight end,Air Max 97 Undefeated For Sale, giving the Patriots one less potential receiver.
Danny Amendola, signed before last season, has just three catches while being thrown to only six times. Brandon LaFell, in his first year with the Patriots, didn't catch any of the six passes thrown to him in the opener, LaFell wasn't thrown to at all in the second game despite playing 38 snaps.
"I have a lot of trust in Danny," Brady said. "It's my responsibility to get him the ball and there were a few catches that got turned back (by penalties), a few big plays that would extend drives.
Brady has forged an excellent connection with Gronkowski since the tight end's rookie season in 2010. Gronkowski had 226 receptions in 50 games over his first four seasons.
New England (1-1) plays its home opener Sunday against Oakland (0-2). The Raiders are tied for second in fewest yards allowed passing,Nike Air Max Tn Shoes For Men Sale, with teams preferring to run against the NFL's worst rushing defense.
Of Brady's 44 completions this season, 20 have gone to Edelman and Gronkowski. Of his 78 passes, 32 were aimed at them.
"I have a lot of confidence in all our receivers and tight ends and backs in the passing game," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "I would anticipate that we'll go forward and the ball will get distributed to a lot of those guys that can do a lot of good things with it."
In a 33-20 loss to the Dolphins,Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping, Edelman, Gronkowski and wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins caught 15 of Brady's 21 completions to wide receivers and tight ends. They also were targeted on 29 of the 43 passes thrown to players at those positions.
"I've got to do a better job finding the other guys because it's a lot of good routes, they're big targets," Brady said Wednesday. "Guys are working really hard to get open. So, hopefully, it shows up this week in our pass game."
When Brady distributes the ball more evenly, defenders can't focus as much on Edelman and Gronkowski. With 14 regular-season games remaining, there's plenty of time for that to happen.
Of course, both teams have played only two games. But the Patriots already have seen a troubling pattern — like the percentage of passes thrown to Edelman and Gronkowski.
The other Patriots he sends out on pass patterns,Brent Seabrook Jersey? Not so much.
"I've been here for a few years now, so you've just got to go out there every practice, work hard, work overtime, stay after practice, get the same chemistry down," Gronkowski said. "It's not just chemistry with Tom. It's chemistry with the other wide receivers, with the timing, chemistry with the offensive linemen."
Running back Shane Vereen has been effective out of the backfield with six catches in two games, but two veteran wide receivers have had disappointing starts.
"We could certainly stand to get a lot more balance into our attack overall," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We didn't have it in the run-pass ratio in Miami and we didn't really have enough of it in the passing game last week, or really for Miami for that matter."
But Thompkins was inactive against the Vikings despite being healthy. Another second-year pro,Cheap Air Max 90 Kpu Sale, Aaron Dobson, took his spot and caught one of the two passes thrown toward him.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady is very comfortable throwing to Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.
The discrepancy was most glaring in last Sunday's 30-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Edelman and Gronkowski caught 10 of the 13 passes aimed at them. The other wide receivers and tight ends caught just two of the five balls Brady threw toward them.
How did he gain the trust of his star quarterback,Cheap Air Max 97 Trainers?
"But I don't think our passing game has been really stellar to this point, so it's hard to sustain much over the course of the game and get those guys the ball when we're not doing as good a job as we're capable of." |
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