 Last week he scored four times, on Sunday, Jonas Gray didn't register a carry. (USA TODAY Images) |
Jonas Gray picked a bad week to oversleep, and as a result he spent Sunday's win over Detroit on the sidelines while newly-signed LeGarrette blount settled back into the offense.
Gray, who finished last week's game against Indianapolis with 37 carries for 201 yards and four touchdowns, didn't carry the football once on Sunday, with Blount and Shane Vereen seeing the majority of the action carrying the football. Blount finished with 12 carries for 78-yards and two touchdowns, while Vereen carried 8 times for 12 yards.
As a result, Gray wasn't able to follow-up his big performance.
"I thought LG ran good," Belichick said after the game, referring to Blount. "He had a good week, worked hard to get ready this week. I thought he did a good job for us."
Eight of Blount's twelve carries came in the fourth quarter, all of which were on New England's final drive of the game. Blount started the drive with a 33-yard rush, which was the second longest carry of the year by a Patriots running back. New England's offense was able to frustrate a gassed Detroit team who watched them run the clock down from 6:23 to 1:57, which was exactly what Belichick's team needed to do to close out the game.
It's exactly what Gray had done after the Patriots took over the ball with 4:17 to go in the game last week against Indianapolis and Gray was able to run out the clock and help his team get the win.
Instead his error made him a spectator, and after making the cover of Sports Illustrated and having a lot of momentum, the experience likely brought him back to earth.
"We do what we think is best," said Belichick when asked if Gray's lack of playing time was discipline related. "That's what we did today."
One would have to believe Gray got the point, but with Blount back in the mix he and Gray will hopefully be a solid tandem heading into the final stretch of the season.
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