New England Patriots

Over the past three years in New England, we've all been treated to a new and innovative passing that has been described as game changing. This approach, as worked up by the Patriots coaching staff, revolves around the use of two different types of tight ends. Since breaking into the league in 2010, both Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez have taken the league by storm when being used in this new offensive approach. Gronkowski has the ability to stretch the field and use his physicality and strength to become the NFL's most dangerous redzone threat. Hernandez, meanwhile has also made his mark on the position, bringing and quickness and wide receiver like prowess that has allowed him to become a mismatch for NFL linebackers. As some scouts have put it, this two tight end attack has revolutionized the game and some NFL teams are starting to take notice. Recently, the Cincinnati Bengals have said that they are looking to emulate what the Patriots are doing by planning to heavily featuring both Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert in their offense this coming season. When both Gronkowski and Hernandez are on the field together, they're almost unstoppable. But when one of them isn't, flaws emerge in the approach. When both aren't out there, the offense becomes dangerously vulnerable to opposing defenses. Unfortunately for the Patriots, they only had both tight ends on the field for five games last season. As talented as they are, Gronkowski and Hernandez haven't been able to stay on the field recently. At least, stay on the field together. Then emerges Jake Ballard, the tight end that Bill Belichick so cleverly plucked off waivers and away from the Giants when they were trying to sneak him onto injured reserve. Ballard was unable to contribute to his new team last season due to injury, but it certainly ready to make an impact in 2013. For the Patriots, the timing of getting Ballard on the field couldn't have come at a better time. On Monday, Gronkowski underwent surgery on his left forearm for the fourth time in his career. He will be out for an estimated two and a half months and is expected to be ready for training camp. He's also contemplating another surgery, this time on his sore back that has bothered him throughout his college days. But again, reports indicate that he'll still be ready for training camp, back surgery or no back surgery. All and all, both Gronkowski and Hernandez should be healthy enough to attend training camp and hopefully play the 2013 season at the elite and unstoppable manner we all know they are capable of doing. Gronkowski has now had issues with his ankle, back and forearm and he's only 24 years old. This has caused concern for many, and has raised the question of whether or not he'll ever be able to play a season in the NFL without sustaining a new injury, or re-aggravating an old one. Never mind the fact that he's yet to be 100% healthy during a team playoff run. The answer that some of you have tossed around has been to simply stick Hernandez in his place and simply double his targets. The problem with that is that that isn't Hernandez's game. He's the tight end who acts as a third or fourth wide receiver and uses his quickness to make plays, not his build and power to plow through opposing defenses. This is where Ballard comes into play. At 6-foot-6 and 256 pounds, Ballard's build is the exact same as Gronkowski, who is also 6-foot-6 and 256. There's no question that Gronk is the better of the two, but Ballard is more than an adequate fill-in if Gronkowski were to go down with another injury. After redshirting his rookie season, Ballard saw significant playing time with the Super Bowl champion Giants in 2011, where he caught 38 passes for 604 yards and four touchdowns. He emerged as the No. 1 tight end on the roster and became Eli Manning's favorite target in the redzone. Ballard, as you see in the picture above, played a big factor in the Giants' regular season win over the Patriots. Ca

Mark Harrison is the newest member of the Patriots from Greg Schiano’s 2009 recruiting class at Rutgers.NEPD Editor: Mike LoykoYou can never have too many Rutgers players seems to be the theme of this off-season in Foxboro. Just when it looked like the Patriots were done adding former Scarlet Knights to the roster Bill Belichick strikes again, this time adding WR Mark Harrison to the roster. Harrison was a projected mid-round draft pick, but landed with the Patriots due to circumstances outside his control.Let’s learn more about Mark Harrison the player.It’s not an understatement to say that statistically Mark Harrison had the most impressive 2013 NFL Combine performance of any participant. During February’s combine Mark weighed in at just under 6’3″ tall and 231 lbs. When Harrison posted a 40 yard dash time of 4.46 seconds, a broad jump of 10’9″ and a vertical jump of 38.5 inches, people immediately took notice. A human being as big and heavy as Harrison isn’t supposed to put up those kind of agility numbers.In fact, after the combine I took a look at just how rare Harrison’s combine performance was, and the results were very interesting. Since 2005 there have been only FOUR WR prospects to weigh in at 224 lbs or heavier, run sub 4.50, jump at least 37″ and broad jump at least 10’5″. Those four receivers were Calvin Johnson, Jonathan Baldwin, Matt Jones and Mark Harrison. Now those numbers don’t have any bearing on NFL success, but it goes to show the type of rare athleticism Harrison possesses.Now comes the question as to why a player with as much physical talent aas Harrison has is available this late in the off-season.The answer to that question has to be linked directly to Harrison’s foot injury which he suffered while warming up for his Rutgers Pro Day. Harrison broke his 5th metatarsal, which required surgery and kept him from working out for teams privately before the draft. Prior to the foot injury I was aware of at least two teams that had Mark as a 4th round selection and he was generally viewed as a mid-round selection in the draft.As a result of the foot injury Harrison went undrafted and immediately became one of the most coveted UDFA on the market. The Bears initially signed Harrison, pairing him with his off-season workout partner, Brandon Marshall. Fortunately for Patriot fans, Harrison’s foot injury wasn’t 100% healthy and he failed his physical with Chicago.It should come as no surprise that Harrison signed with New England yesterday, now that he is full healthy. The Patriots spent a lot of time with Mark prior to the draft, including sending offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Nick Caserio down to Rutgers to spend the day with him. Harrison becomes the 5th Rutgers player to be acquired through the draft or UDFA process.Harrison will add speed and size to the perimeter of the offense. Something that has been lacking in big games the past two seasons. When you factor in Aaron Dobson, Josh Boyce and now Mark Harrison it’s clear to see what the Patriots thinking was when choosing receivers this year. The biggest knock on Harrison will be his lack of production, despite his phenomenal physical abilities. Despite playing for four season’s he never posted more than 44 receptions or close to 1,000 yards. Despite that he did average more than 16 yards/catch.While Boyce and Dobson are locks for the final roster. It will be very interesting to watch how the other rookie receivers, Harrison, TJ Moe and Kenbrell Thompkins fare in their battle for roster spots.

Setting aside Matthew Slater, which wide receiver on the field during today's OTA session had the most experience catching balls from Tom Brady?Answer: Danny Amendola.And that's only because the two had hooked up at USC last month to get acquainted and get in some work. Chemistry takes time, and Brady and his new cast of receivers were at it today, trying to get the process going.

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York says it "feels really good" to win a Super Bowl.While the 49ers lost to Baltimore last February, NFL owners Tuesday awarded the 2016 Super Bowl to the San Francisco Bay Area over South Florida.When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the decision, members of the San Francisco bid committee let out a roar of approval, then toasted each other with champagne.It will be the 50th Super Bowl and York said they're excited "to be able to put on the 'Golden Super Bowl' in the Golden State."

Robert Kraft Patriots owner Robert Kraft had good news about the most recent round of surgery for tight end Rob Gronkowski, telling reporters Tuesday that it was “as good a report as we could’ve hoped.” “That made me feel good,” Kraft said when he heard the news about Gronkowski’s latest surgery. “I heard about it late afternoon, and once again had a chat late at night after our dinner meeting was over. And so, we just hope for the best.” Gronkowski had his fourth surgery for a broken left forearm that he initially injured during the 2012 regular season and limited him down the stretch. In addition to the injury, there was also an troublesome infection issue. Despite the fact that initial reports indicate that the infection has cleared, the Patriots owner said Tuesday that he wouldn’t declare the infection is gone, because, he said, even doctors aren’t completely sure it won’t return. Speaking at the NFL owners meetings — which saw Super Bowl L awarded to San Francisco and Super Bowl LI awarded to Houston — Kraft also expressed interest in a possible Boston/Providence Super Bowl sometime in the near future. The Patriots owner said a good test run would be Super Bowl XLVIII, which is set for February in New Jersey. “We would love one day to hold it here if it’s a good experience there,” Kraft told reporters. “We’re looking forward to seeing this experience in New York and New Jersey. “Part of what it will require is political people in Boston and Providence coming together so we could really have the right number of hotel rooms and have the support,” Kraft said. “It would require cooperation from all of the political folks who would have to gather together and want this and come together, like they do in other parts of the country.” For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

Linebacker Dane Fletcher was on the field for team drills today at practice, and that's a good sign for the three-year veteran who is coming off a torn ACL."I feel good, or else I wouldn't be out here," Fletcher said. "I feel like everything's progressive, but it's getting better."

he new face of the Patriots wide receiving corps has his hands full with the team's playbook, a complex system by NFL standards of shifting routes, adjustments, and an ever-changing vocabulary.

ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss was on SportsCenter this afternoon to discuss the integration of Danny Amendola into the Patriots’ system (video above). Amendola, who has already worked some with Brady this offseason, said at Tuesday’s OTA that he’s still learning “the vocabulary of the offense.” “It’s a process,” he added. Reiss finished the interview with an observation from Tuesday’s OTA: “The Patriots, unlike the other 31 teams in the NFL, don’t have jersey numbers for their players (at OTAs).

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Rob Gronkowski's agent says the tight end's latest surgery is expected to be the last on his forearm.The New England Patriots' star had his fourth surgery on Monday on the left forearm that he broke on Nov. 18 while blocking for an extra point against the Indianapolis Colts. He broke it again early in the Patriots' first playoff game, a win over the Houston Texans.

As the Patriots begin their first on-field workouts as a team, fans are still holding out hope for some additional moves on the roster. We break some of the suggestions down on this edition of "Ask PFW."