Danny Amendola is active

New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola (80) catches a pass against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Patriots beat the Bills 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots were extremely optimistic that Danny Amendola would be able to play this week, and that optimism has come to fruition with Amendola officially active for today’s big game against the Cincinnati Bengals. I predicted a couple of days ago that Amendola would “almost certainly” play in today’s game, and that optimistic call has seemingly been proved true. Amendola has made significant progress on his completely torn adductors, and he is also an incredibly tough player who has historically returned earlier from injuries than expected.

This is definitely not good news for the Cincinnati Bengals, as they will have to contend with one of the best slot receivers in the game. Danny Amendola is clearly the Patriots best receiver, and he and Tom Brady share an excellent connection. Don’t expect much in the form of production out of Amendola, though, because he is fully expected to be on a snap count today. He will play, but he’s a tougher call for fantasy purposes than he normally would be.

Amendola being active for this game comes as no surprise, but it will be a surprise to see him get a heavy dose of targets. Even so, his mere presence on the field will help the Patriots, because he is the kind of high-caliber player opponents always have to be wary of. We’ll see how many snaps Danny Amendola actually gets today, but the fact that he is playing is good news on its own.

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