Hogan possible for timely return
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
FOXBORO — The Patriots may need Chris Hogan this week as much as ever. As fate has it, he might finally be ready to go,
“(I feel) good, day by day and trying to prepare myself to play in the game,” Hogan said.
The wide receiver practiced yesterday for the first time since he injured his shoulder in Week 8 against the Chargers. The four-game absence was surprising, not because of the extent of the injury but because of Hogan’s reputation for playing through just about everything.
In October alone, Hogan injured his ribs, spent a moment in concussion protocol and lost his two front teeth in practice. But it was pretty obvious that something was wrong when he remained on the turf after taking a shot during the victory against the Chargers.
“Yeah, it hurt pretty bad,” Hogan said with a grin.
Through Week 8, Hogan was tied for third on the team with 33 receptions, third with 438 yards and tied for the lead with Rob Gronkowski with five touchdowns. So with Gronk suspended against the Dolphins, a healthy Hogan could mitigate that loss.
He wouldn’t declare himself ready to go, but put off positive vibes yesterday.
“Today was like the first day of school for me getting back out there on the field,” Hogan said. “I was excited to be out there. The competitor in you wants to be out there no matter what.”
Rowe-verly excited
It wasn’t too difficult to decipher Eric Rowe’s excitement Sunday when he returned from a seven-game absence.
Rowe broke up the final pass of the game to secure the Patriots’ 23-3 victory against the Bills, and he celebrated as if the stakes were a lot higher. But it was a challenging recovery from a torn groin, and a breakup never felt so good.
“Even though it was at the end of the game and we had the game in hand,” Rowe said, “to me mentally, it was a confidence thing like, ‘OK, it’s coming back.’”
Rowe initially injured his groin in Week 2 against the Saints, missed a game and then tore it on the first play of the second half in Week 4 against the Panthers. The initial pain made it obvious that he’d miss some time, and that became even clearer the next day with the swelling.
Rowe said it really hit him hard a week later when he was still struggling and couldn’t run. Even the return to practice was a challenge, as he took a while to adapt to that speed.
So with all that behind him and a nice play in his return to game action, the emotion hit him.
“The minute I hurt my groin again, obviously I was feeling down with all the work I had to do to get back up to full speed,” Rowe said. “I was happy just being out there, and then to make a play, too.”
Treatment day
Quarterback Tom Brady opted for another maintenance day yesterday, marking the third consecutive week when he has sat out the opening workout to recover from the ongoing pounding that he has taken this season.
There is little reason to be concerned about Brady’s array of ailments. His Achilles was the only injury listed on the team’s official report in the past two weeks, but they didn’t release an injury report yesterday due to the upcoming Monday game. They’ll issue an injury report today after practice.
Brady has also taken a couple shots to the hand this season, including Week 4 against the Panthers and Week 12 against the Dolphins. And he had a significant scrape on his left arm a couple weeks ago, among whatever else has bothered him this season.
Brady was just one of five key players who didn’t suit up yesterday in the bubble, which had the heat on full blast to get the Patriots ready for Miami. Cornerback Malcolm Butler, defensive end Deatrich Wise, linebacker Kyle Van Noy (calf) and right tackle Marcus Cannon (ankle) were also out.
It’s unclear why Butler and Wise were out. Neither had an apparent issue against the Bills.
Van Noy injured his calf against the Dolphins and aggravated it Sunday when he had a limited role to protect the issue. So it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising for the Patriots to throttle back his workload to get himself right again.
Back in the fold
The Patriots re-signed linebacker Jonathan Freeny, who took Gronkowski’s roster exemption. Gronk won’t count against the 53-man roster until Tuesday.
Freeny said he has retained enough knowledge of the system to play Monday if called upon.
“I would definitely hope so,” said Freeny, who was with the Patriots from 2015 until he was cut Labor Day Weekend. “I’ve been here for two years. In practice, I felt pretty good today. My recall was pretty good. If my number is called, I’m going to do my best to prepare and study and get ready for Monday night.”