Injuries on Offense Led to a First-Time Experience for Tom Brady in Week 6 vs. Giants
You might think Tom Brady has experienced almost every situation an NFL player can be through - injuries, controversy, tough losses, big wins, etc. However, Thursday night's 35-14 win over the New York Giants brought along a scenario that the New England Patriots quarterback has never experienced in his 20-year career.
No, it wasn't his two rushing touchdown performance during the 35-14 win. That was the third time the 42 year old quarterback has done that in his career. No, it wasn't throwing zero touchdowns in a game; he did that as recent as Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills.
Let's just say that injuries played a part in the first time experience for Brady.
"We just grinded it out pretty good," Brady said during his postgame press conference when asked how he felt about the Week 6 win over the Giants. "We kind of got forced into one grouping in the second half. I don't think that's ever happened in 20 years."
The grouping that Brady is referring to is the Patriots' offensive grouping during the second half of Thursday night's game. With receiver Josh Gordon, fullback Jakob Johnson, and tight end Matt LaCosse all exiting the game and not returning because of injuries, it forced the same group of skill position players on the field during the final 30 minutes of the game.
Rookie wideouts Jakobi Meyers (four catches, 54 yards) and Gunner Olszewski (two catches, 34 yards) were bumped into every-down roles in the second half of the game due to the absence of Gordon and Phillip Dorsett (hamstring) who was ruled out before the game. Second-year TE Ryan Izzo (two catches, 31 yards) also played every snap snap at the position once a lower-leg injury knocked Matt LaCosse out of the game.
Having those four players on the field every down, coupled with the absence of a fullback forced New England's offense into specific packages based on their limited personnel. This, as Brady mentioned, isn't something he hasn't dealt with in his career. It is less a sign of how healthy/deep the rosters have been for the Patriots over the years, and more a worrisome tale of where the 2019 offense stands.
Center David Andrews, rookie wideout N'Keal Harry, and second-year offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn are all currently on injured reserve. Rex Burkhead just missed his second straight game. Dorsett also didn't play vs. New York, but his absence isn't expected to extend past this week.
Now, Gordon, a banged-up Julian Edelman, Matt LaCosse, and Jakob Johnson all have their injuries to tend to as they head into the seventh week of the regular season.
Harry could return to practice as early as next week, but he is not eligible to return from IR until Week 9. Even then, Harry's presence on the field will not solely fix the offensive woes the Patriots are currently having. Even when the skill positions are fully healthy, it still doesn't fix the offensive line issues the team continues to have, which is partly because of injuries but also because of overall poor play.
Nothing seems to be working right now for that unit. Run, pass, play calling, whatever it may be, no matter the opponent, the offense continually sputters out and doesn't show enough consistency to elicit any type of hope in those watching it. They are getting away with poor play right now because of the lackluster opponents they are facing. But the opponents will get tougher down the road, specifically starting in November when they face teams like the Ravens, Cowboys, Eagles and Chiefs.
The month of October is the time to right the ship while the going is easy. If New England can't do that, then their season may not extend far past the new year.
