Complex Pats offense big challenge to Allen
FOXBORO — Tight end Dwayne Allen admittedly is behind the learning curve of the complex Patriots offense.
“It is extremely hard,” Allen said yesterday. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”
Allen is new here, of course. But he’s trying to assimilate into a system Tom Brady has been running for 17 years. He knows it’s a long climb.
“It is hard but also stimulating and very exciting,” Allen said. “It is one of those things that where you pray for something so long, and when it comes, you can’t cry because it’s harder than you thought it was going to be.
“You have to accept that and be grateful for it.”
Allen is very grateful for the support system the Patriots provided upon arriving at training camp. The 6-foot-3, 265-pounder came over from the Colts (along with a sixth-round pick) in a March trade for a fourthround pick.
After some rocky going in the spring, Allen has seemed to improve since training camp opened in late July.
“You come in with certain expectations, and some are proven right, and you have to learn to adjust to your surroundings,” Allen said. “The locker room has been really great and accepting and showing me how to do things.”
Allen has been catching passes from good quarterbacks for years now. In college at Clemson, it was Tajh Boyd. With the Colts, it was Andrew Luck.
But now he has a chance to catch passes from Brady and learn in the same position room as Rob Gronkowski.
“Every quarterback and receiver have certain nuances to their game that are built over years and over time, and for me it has been catch-up almost,” Allen said. “Luckily I have Rob to observe and watch and see how he does things and how he interacts with Tom, and hopefully I can mimic some of that. Rob is one of the hardest-working men in this organization, and that is why he has been able to have the success that he has had and will continue to have.
“For me to be able to watch how he does things and watch how Tom and he communicate both verbally and nonverbally has been a huge help for my progression in the offense.”