by Dakota Antelman
24 year old Patriots running back Jonas Gray has had an up and down past three weeks. But at the end of it all, reports indicate that Gray will get back into game action Sunday vs. the Packers.
Gray made headlines back in Week Eleven when he rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries vs. the Colts. He earned the nickname “Supreme”, was named the AFC Player of the Week and was also featured on the national cover of Sports Illustrated.
But then, the very next week, the Patriots brought in a proven competitor for Gray’s playing time in LeGarret Blount. Further complicating things was the disciplinary actions taken against Gray after he was late to practice. He was turned away from that practice and effectively suspended that Sunday vs. the Lions.
Watching from the sidelines, Gray witnessed LeGarret Blount retake the role of number one running back.
But ahead of Gray’s perceived return to action Sunday, the young running back was not overtly bitter. Rather, he thanked his teammates and coaches for “sticking with him”.
“These guys rallied around me,” Gray said. “No matter what I was going through, they were always there for me. I think the best thing about it is they were all concerned. But we’re moving on from it. I’m already past it. I feel like it’s been a while already. I’m ready to go play, get out there and finally get a chance to hit the field again.”
But within the run scheme it is still unclear how much of his old starting role will still be Gray’s to fill.
“They really never let you know,” Gray said on the subject of snap distribution. “I feel like a lot of these guys, no matter what position you're at or what you're doing, you're going to get some reps.”
But still, the Patriots have shown in recent years a predictable tendency to pick the running back that has “it” going on any given day and simply stick with him right through the end of the game. That was true for Gray vs. the Colts just as it was true for Blount last week vs. Detroit.
In an outing vs Detroit where he was given the ball 12 times, Blount was present on the field for 17 snaps. In comparison, secondary running back Brandon Boulden was on the field for two snaps while of course, Gray was completely absent.
What these statistics dictate is the fact that the Patriots could be leaving this game wide open in regards to who carries them in the run game.
Needless to say, Gray will be looking to remind them why he was offensive player of the week with a strong first quarter vs. Green Bay.
0 comments:
Post a Comment