Challengers grow distant to Pats

FOXBORO — A week into training camp, the gap between the Patriots and the rest of the AFC has gotten wider.

Just watching how some of the new Patriots have fit in and dialed it up in practices, whether it’s speedy wideout Brandin Cooks working late with Tom Brady to get his rhythm and timing down, or cornerback Stephon Gilmore not backing down on aggressive play to the point of locking horns with Julian Edelman.

Those two players alone make the defending Super Bowl champions better.

You also see a healthy Rob Gronkowski, hell-bent on avoiding injuries and staying on the field. He’s now committed to Brady’s training and diet regimen with Alex Guerrero at TB12 Sports Therapy Center at Patriot Place. This has to be viewed as a positive development for the team and the tight end, who didn’t play in the Super Bowl LI victory.

Sure, there have been a few things to make you pause, like defensive end Kony Ealy starting off badly, but overall most of the team looks to be in form, including the now 40-yearold quarterback.

But then, see what’s going on in the rest of the conference and the problems some of the challengers are having make their long path to catching the Patriots seem even steeper.

Yesterday, fans in Miami, along with Dolphins players, were lighting candles and praying for the health of starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who left the field after his left knee buckled without contact during practice.

The Dolphins showed signs of life last year, making the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Coach Adam Gase seemed to be turning things around, but the Dolphins aren’t going to keep climbing without a quarterback, even one who plenty of people still aren’t sold on just yet.

The knee Tannehill hurt is the same one he injured last year when he missed the final three games in the regular season and playoffs. Tannehill didn’t have surgery to repair the ACL/ MCL damage, only stem cell treatment.

Maybe it proves not to be a serious injury. But a scare to an already injured knee of your starting quarterback is never promising.

And, to think, the Dolphins were the other good team in the AFC East.

Let’s just say they aren’t going to challenge the Pats if they have to go to the bullpen to Matt Moore. Already, there’s talk of bringing Jay Cutler out of retirement if Tannehill’s injury proves severe, since Cutler knows Gase’s system from their days in Chicago. There’s also Colin Kaepernick, who remains without a job. There were also suggestions of trading for Brock Osweiler.

Add it all up, and the gap in the division suddenly looks like a canyon.

The Bills are rebuilding under new coach Sean McDermott, who’s cleaning up the mess Rex Ryan left, while the Jets have already thrown in the towel. The only news out of Florham Park, N.J., is how many times coach Todd Bowles rolls his eyes watching the so-called quarterback auditions.

Meanwhile, outside the division, the Houston Texans lost wideout Will Fuller indefinitely to a collarbone injury. That won’t help Tom Savage or rookie Deshaun Watson, or whoever is the Texans quarterback. The Ravens’ Joe Flacco has a bad back, forcing Baltimore to look for another quarterback. On and on it goes. The Patriots have a few injuries, too, but nothing like that. As it is, it’s still hard to fathom a better team. Former Patriots fullback Heath Evans, who was in town with NFL Network on Wednesday, definitely sees the gap. Evans thinks it could stretch to the point of the Pats running the table — undefeated — if they stay healthy, which is a huge if.

“I’ve said now for a couple months, and Bill (Belichick) hates it, if every team stayed flawlessly healthy, and every team coached as well as they’re capable of coaching, and every player across the league played as well as their potential would allow them to play, the Pats would win every game,” Evans said.

“On paper, they have the best team in the league, and it’s not even close. But that’s not the way it works.”

It’s not the way it works, because injuries happen. And right now, the Pats are ahead on that score, too.

They might not have played a game yet, but the gap is still getting wider.