New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola (80) against the Denver Broncos in the 2013 AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola tore his adductor muscles in a narrow Week 1 win over the Buffalo Bills, and that game actually marked the high point of Amendola’s season despite the injury. He showed remarkable toughness by coming back into the game after first suffering the injury, and he made several clutch catches- especially on third down- to keep drives alive and net the Patriots the win in a nail-biter. Both he and Tom Brady had a great connection going on the game-winning drive, and he finished with ten catches for 104 yards. Amendola netted more than that number of receiving yards in just two games and tied ten receptions in just one other contest.
Amendola’s first season in New England is viewed as a disappointment by many people, since he missed four games with groin and concussion injuries and had just 54 receptions for 633 yards. Julian Edelman was the guy who did the best job of “replacing” Wes Welker, but I also feel like people downplay Amendola’s impact too much. He didn’t have the season most of us hoped for, but Amendola had to slog through a groin injury for pretty much the entire season. The man showed great toughness playing through the pain, and it’s clear to me that the injury was more severe than initially thought.
However, MassLive.com’s Nick Underhill reports that Amendola is not expected to have surgery on his groin, as the team believes that he will be fine with rest.