New England Patriots: Chris Hogan returning would be a big boost
By Nick Ziegler
The New England Patriots have been without wide receiver Chris Hogan for the past few weeks. In Week 14, they hope to have him back.
On Wednesday, Chris Hogan returned to practice for the first time in a long time. Even though the New England Patriots haven’t lost a game without Hogan, he is still an important part of their offense.
Last season, Hogan was able to have some big games for the Patriots down the stretch, as he was able to stretch the field quite nicely for Tom Brady. So far this season, Hogan has totaled 33 receptions, 438 receiving yards, and five receiving touchdowns. Despite missing time, Hogan has been able to accumulate some nice stats for the Patriots this season.
With Hogan returning to practice this week, the hope now is that he will be able to play on Monday night against the Dolphins. In the Patriots’ Week 13 win against the Buffalo Bills, tight end Rob Gronkowski made a poor decision after a play was over and hit a player on the Bills while he was down.
Even though Gronkowski wasn’t ejected from the game, he was suspended by the NFL quickly on Monday. Gronkowski has been nothing short of great this season for the Patriots, as he has arguably been Brady’s most valuable weapon. With Gronkowski out, that means other players will have to step up. If Hogan returns, he can certainly help in those regards.
If Hogan is unable to suit up on Monday night, the Patriots will be a bit short-handed in their passing offense. While Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola have played well this season, they would be pretty much it at wide receiver. At tight end, Dwayne Allen will be stepping in for Gronkowski, but he obviously won’t be matching Gronkowski’s production.
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The Patriots do have a lot of good pass catchers out of the backfield, but they would certainly like to add Hogan into the mix to help replace Gronkowski’s production. With an extra day this week, hopefully, we will see Hogan back in action on Monday night.