New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola is almost certainly out for Thursday's game against the New York Jets, and ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss says he wouldn't be surprised if the team's free-agent addition is out until the Patriots' Week 4 matchup at Atlanta.
Danny Amendola could miss two games, a familiar situation for fantasy owners
A groin injury in Week 1 could keep the Patriots offseason acquisition out until Week 4. We break down the fantasy implications.
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Amendola, who has a fairly infamous injury history, aggravated a groin injury in the first half Sunday against Buffalo. He returned to the game, but the aggravation appears significant enough to hold him out at least one game.
Fantasy impact: Owners who drafted Amendola had to know this was a strong possibility, though the hope was he’d make it through at least one game before the inevitable injury bug bit. There’s no reason to start Amendola in Thursday’s game, and owners should probably make alternative plans for next week as well. Reiss’ guess of another week’s absence wasn’t accompanied by any team confirmation, but he knows the Patriots as well as anyone, so it’s hard to dismiss this guess.
In the meantime, Julian Edelman will probably take over the Amendola role, both in the slot and as the team’s primary through-the-air weapon. Rookie Kenbrell Thompkins will be the team’s other primary pass weapon against the Jets.
The Patriots are likely to be without (or with seriously hampered versions of) Amendola, Shane Vereen, Rob Gronkowski, Zach Sudfeld, Brandon Bolden, and Aaron Dobson Thursday. Sure, it's still Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, but all these absences really makes the Jets defense a tantalizing option as well.
