Larry Brown Sports

Wes Welker played the role of safety valve to perfection for Tom Brady for six seasons. Any time the New England Patriots had to have a first down, Brady would always be looking to go to Welker. Now, the three-time Super Bowl champion will not have that option. Instead, he will have to rely on the newly-acquired Danny Amendola and his dynamic tight end duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark wonders if the aforementioned players will be enough. During an appearance on “NFL Live” On Monday, Clark talked about Welker’s importance to the Patriots, which he thinks has been understated.

“I think what’s really underestimated is Wes Welker’s importance to not only the New England Patriots, but Tom Brady,” he said, via ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss. “A lot of what they do is timing. A lot of what they do is option reads, when you’re working inside against that nickelback or against those linebackers. Losing him is huge.

“I know they think Danny Amendola can come in and have the same type of numbers he had with the Rams, but we also have to remember, he’s fragile. He’s not a guy who has completed a whole season, especially playing inside in what can be a physical AFC East. You also think about Gronkowski and the injury; that is going to be bigger than anything for the New England Patriots coming in this year.”

The Patriots were not as concerned about Amendola’s injury history because most of his injuries have been to the upper body, but Clark makes some valid points. The chemistry Brady and Welker developed isn’t going to be instantly replicated by Brady and Amendola. Gronkowski’s health is also a major concern. However, there wouldn’t have been much bulletin board material for Bill Belichick to use if Clark had stopped there. He didn’t.

“In 2010, we saw it start with the Jets in the playoffs,” he continued. “When Tom Brady gets pressure and when you’re man-to-man and bumping those guys and making it hard for him to throw, he sees ghosts. Even when guys aren’t around him, even when he’s not about to be sacked, when his clock goes off in his head that the ball should be out, we’ll see him duck, we’ll see him flinch. When you get Tom Brady doing that, the whole New England Patriots mystique goes away.”

Again, some valid points. But Brady will probably use those points as motivation before the Steelers play the Patriots on Nov. 3. Health will be a major concern for New England heading into the season, but the same can be said for a lot of teams. Is it possible that this guy could be the answer? No, I didn’t think so either.

Since news of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings broke on Monday afternoon, a number of athletes have been doing what they can to pay tribute to the victims and help the healing process. New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola, who is much closer to the incident this year than he would have been a year ago, has vowed to help out in the form of donations.

Amendola, who signed a five-year, $31 million deal with the Patriots last month, has already come up with a creative way to help the victims and their families. Early Tuesday morning, the 27-year old tweeted that he plans on donating money for every pass he catches and drops during the 2013 season.

I will DONATE $100 for EVERY pass I catch next season to whatever “Boston Marathon Relief Fund” there is. And $200 for any dropped pass.

— Danny Amendola (@DannyAmendola) April 16, 2013

Hopefully these gestures keep rolling in. We already saw Ben Revere pay tribute to the people of Boston with this message on his glove during Monday night’s game, and many others across sports did the same. Every bit of assistance is needed at a time such as this.

Wes Welker signed with the Denver Broncos on Wednesday, and there has been a ton of speculation about whether it was more his decision to leave or the decision of the New England Patriots to push him away. If Welker did indeed return to the Patriots after he was offered a two-year, $12 million contract from the Broncos to give New England a chance to match, why didn’t they want him at such a reasonable price?

Perhaps the reason is that the Patriots had already signed Danny Amendola. According to CSNNE.com’s Tom E. Curran, New England actually inked a deal with the former St. Louis Rams wideout on Tuesday. Apparently the Patriots had already made up their minds when Welker’s camp informed them that the 32-year-old would be testing the free agent market and seeking an annual salary of somewhere in the $8 million to $9 million-per-season range.

Curran said that the Patriots’ line of thinking was that they could not afford to miss out on both Welker and Amnendola. Since their offer to Wes was reportedly two years, $10 million, they clearly realized they were nowhere near the $8 million his agents said he would seek on the open market. In other words, New England did not react to the Broncos signing Welker by quickly locking down Amendola — he was already a Patriot.

It’s obvious that the Patriots did not value Welker all that highly. However, you have to wonder if they would have matched the two-year, $12 million offer had they not already gone ahead and signed Amendola. Perhaps they thought there were teams out there who would have offered significantly more than that, thus causing them to shift their focus when they realized there would be no hometown discount offered. The dynamics of the NFL are even more crazy and unpredictable than we thought.

St. Louis Rams receiver Danny Amendola needs to work on his spike accuracy. After scoring during the fourth quarter of the Rams-Vikings game on Sunday, the receiver fired a ball into the ground, and it bounced directly into the face of an old man who was standing at the back of the end zone.

So that’s two fouls on Amendola: One for spiking a ball while down 33-13, and another for nailing an old man.

H/T Jimmy Traina

Danny Amendola and Dashon Goldson both admitted after their respective teams played to a 24-24 tie on Sunday that they didn’t know that outcome was possible.

Amendola, who had 11 catches for 102 yards in his first game back from injury for the St. Louis Rams, reportedly did not know the game would end after the first overtime. Here’s what SI/NBC’s Peter King reported:

Amendola just told me he thought there was going to be a second overtime. Didn’t know it was over till he heard from an official.

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) November 12, 2012

The only comforting news for Amendola is that he is not alone. San Francisco 49ers safety Dashon Goldson, who had eight tackles in the game, admitted his shock over the contest’s outcome.

“I didn’t know you could tie,” he said, per Cam Inman. “When I saw both sides walking onto the field, I was like, ‘Where’s everybody going?”

The only bright side is that Donovan McNabb now has some company in his dubious club. You figure after McNabb was ridiculed for admitting in 2008 that he didn’t know an Eagles-Bengals game could end in a tie that other players in the league would have taken notice, but apparently some did not. And don’t think that they were alone here either.

Here at LBS we try to give you some fantasy football advice whenever we can. With all the breakout games some receivers and tight ends had on Sunday during Week 2, we figured we’d get you our advice as soon as possible so you can begin working the waiver wire accordingly.

Below are some of the top-performing wide receivers and tight ends from Week 2 who might be available in your league, and our analysis of them.

Danny Amendola, WR, Rams: He was the type of PPR monster many envisioned he would be last year. Amendola caught 15 of the 16 balls thrown his way for 160 yards and a touchdown in the Rams’ win over the Redskins. He also led the team with 5 catches for 70 yards on 9 targets in Week 1. Already with his first career 100-yard game, expect him to set many more career records this season.

Donnie Avery, WR, Colts: Had a breakout game on Sunday for the Colts going for 9 catches and 111 yards. Those were the best stats he’s posted since his rookie year with the Rams in a 2008. A former second-round pick, Avery had a promising rookie season after running an impressive sub-4.30 40 at the combine. It’s been over two years since a torn ACL kept him out for the 2010 season, and he’s now showing the promise that made him a highly-drafted player. He could be a good replacement for owners who drafted Austin Collie and want those stats.

Martellus Bennett, TE, Giants: Scored for the second straight week, and he had 5 catches for 72 yards in the Giants’ comeback win. Marty B. is seeing plenty of passes in the Giants’ offense, but he had trouble with drops on Sunday, which is something that plagued him throughout his career with the Cowboys. He still could easily post numbers similar to what Kevin Boss did when he was with the Giants, so if you need a tight end, he’s not a bad option.

Brian Hartline, WR, Dolphins: He led the Dolphins in receiving yards and targets for the second straight week. Hartline had 9 catches for 111 yards, both of which were career highs. He had 3 catches for 50 yards on 8 targets in last week’s loss to the Texans. Hartline probably won’t find the end zone much in that passing offense, but he should be good for at least 50 receiving yards a week on average, which isn’t bad if you need some depth.

Dante Rosario, TE, Chargers: Caught all 4 balls that came his way for 48 yards and 3 touchdowns. Congratulations if you had him in your starting lineup. If you have Antonio Gates, you should probably pick up Rosario as he seems to be a good backup option for when Gates is hurt. For anyone else, you probably don’t want to waste a roster spot on a backup.

Six years into his NFL career, former Oklahoma receiver Mark Clayton was having his best season. Acquired by St. Louis during the preseason, he became an instant favorite of rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, catching 23 balls for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, Clayton went down five minutes into Sunday’s game running a route up the sideline (video at NFL.com). His absence took a major weapon away from Bradford and the Rams offense, and the sad news is Clayton has a torn patella tendon and will be done for the year.

The injury is equally devastating for the Rams and Clayton. Clayton was set to cash in as a free agent following his big year. The Rams meanwhile have now lost two of their top receivers for the season because of knee injuries — Donnie Avery in the preseason, and Clayton. Not all will be lost in fantasy land — second year receiver out of Texas Tech, Danny Amendola, becomes the hot pickup if he’s still available in your league.

Amendola was averaging five catches per game before the Clayton injury, and with Mark out he emerged as Sam Bradford’s favorite target, seeing 19 balls thrown his way. He made 12 catches for 95 yards but still has yet to find the end zone. If you’re in a point-per-reception league, Amendola will have extra value, but he’s still a nice addition to your roster, especially if you lost Clayton.

The other Rams receiver to watch is Brandon Gibson. The second-year man out of Washington State has seen 18 targets on the year and was on the field a lot more after Clayton got hurt. He’s more of a stretch, but keep your eye on him if you’re desperate. For now, Amendola is the man.

Photo Credit: Joe Robbins/Getty Images