Okay, so now you're claiming that Amendola went down in the depth chart due to Thompkins--a guy who caught a total of 11 passes from mid-October on? Wow...
The Patriots used Dobson at the X-WR and Edelman at the Y-WR, when Dobson was out due to a foot injury it was Thompkins who replaced him at the X-WR. This made Amendola the #3 WR. Was he the #3 target maybe not but he was the #3 receiver because he was the third to enter.
I am not disputing that Amendola WAS a big part of the Patriots plans coming into week one, I am suggesting that those plans may have changed and the groin injury could be secondary. Look at the big picture, this contract was setup in a way that Amendola’s health was a factor in his remaining with the team. This is how I see it –
- The Patriots sign a talented yet often injured player, structure his contract to give him an opportunity to prove that he can do the things it takes to remain healthy in the NFL. Amendola does not make it through two full quarters of a football game before he suffers a major injury.
- Amendola misses four of the next five games.
- Amendola returns to the lineup, at which time he had the opportunity to be #1 wide receiver again; he struggles to perform consistently and Edelman replaces him at halftime against the Broncos.
I could see if Amendola was signed without a history of injuries and this happen, or I could see if he had the history and it was a freak injury that occurred at mid-season that knocked him out, but realistically this player came in with these concerns and within 20 minutes of regular season football, he proved the concerns valid. I get that it was bad luck but it is what it is and I cannot see a reason to do it all over again in 2014 and add another $3.4 million on top of it.
In addition to that not that I think it was merited (because it was a difficult catch in my opinion) but I do think Brady lost trust in Amendola in the Dolphins game when he dropped the potential game winning touchdown at the end of the game. He had been targeted by Brady 77 times in 10 games (the 77th being the drop), Brady did not go back to Amendola after that pass targeting Edelman, Hoomanawanui and Collie on his final 3 passes, and Amendola was targeted just 12 times in the next 4 games. I could be reading into it too much but the pass Amendola did not make the catch on was his 14th target of that game, and to follow that up with 12 in the next 4 games played seems rather odd.
Do you think that may have had anything to do with Belichick and the team trying to properly manage Amendola's injury for the duration of the season by helping to limit his reps?
I think it had a lot to do with his productivity, when he was playing well he saw a higher number of snaps, when he was playing mediocre he played less.
Obviously you don't have to be a genius to realize that they paid Amendola good money to be heavily involved in the offense, and that his week 1 injury changed their plans.
He was a big part of their plans, but as I said, plans change. Last season Lloyd was targeted 33 times and had 22 receptions in his first 3 games and he was cut in the offseason, in 2011 Chad Johnson was targeted 14 times for 9 receptions in his first 5 games, and targeted 18 times for 6 receptions in his next 11 games.
EDIT: That sounds a bit harsher than I intended it to come off. I suppose the reality is that none of us truly know one way or another, but I'd be pretty surprised if they chose to pay Amendola almost 6m AAV, so that he'd be their 3rd WR and 4th or 5th overall option when you include Gronkowski and Vereen as well.
I did not take it personally, Sup, I got nothing but love for you brother!
