Today at 1:00 p.m., the New England Patriots will cast aside the distractions of Aaron Hernandez's murder trial, as well as whether or not Tim Tebow will manage to take the field. Both are gone, and all the focus will be on the Buffalo Bills when they square off in Buffalo. Live stream the action here, or catch the Patriots radio broadcast on 98.5 The Hub. Bills fans can hear their broadcast on WGR 550 AM.
The Patriots had one of the league's most dynamic offenses last season, led by their twin tight end combination of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Now, Hernandez is in solitary confinement while Gronkowski is recovering from forearm and back surgeries.
Tom Brady's security blanket, slot receiver Wes Welker, is also gone to Denver where he was seen on Thursday night reeling in nine passes and two touchdowns. Now, it is up to Danny Amendola to replace Welker's massive production, while the rest of the pass-catching crew is up in the air. Two rookies, Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson figure to get the first crack at lining up on the outside for Brady, while Jake Ballard is being asked to step in for Gronkowski.
Buffalo is a 10.5 point underdog heading into this matchup despite being the home team, but they can breathe a sigh of relief that rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel is back from preseason knee surgery and will be in the starting lineup. For much of the past week and change, Bills fans were under the impression that undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel was set to become the first undrafted rookie passer in NFL history to start a season opener.
The Patriots' injury report lists Will Svitek (OL) as out, Gronkowski (TE) as doubtful, Brandon Bolden (RB), Dobson (WR), Nate Ebner (DB), Duron Harmon (DB) as questionable and Amendola (WR) as probable.
The Bills' injury report lists Stephen Gilmore (CB), Dustin Hopkins (K), Doug Legursky (C) as out, Jairus Byrd (S) as doubtful, and Manuel (QB) as probable.
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