Danny Amendola "Moving Well" In Practice, But Skepticism Remains

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Things appear to be on the up-and-up for New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola. As of today, ESPN Boston reporter Mike Reiss said that Amendola “seems to be moving well.” That would put Amendola on track to play in Sunday’s tilt against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here. There has been talk that Amendola has been getting closer to seeing the field. In fact, the wide receiver said himself that he expects to be 100 percent shortly. When asked how shortly, Amendola said that he would not provide a timeline. So obviously he doesn’t know when he will be 100 percent (if at all).

Then we read reports about how Amendola’s movement and activity were getting better leading into last Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. Even Boston Globe reporter Ben Volin said that Amendola and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski were expected to play in Atlanta. That assessment appeared to be way off, as Amendola and Gronkowski didn’t even make the trip out to Atlanta.

At that point, one had to assume that Amendola was still a ways away from playing. If he could not even make the trip for a game, the indication was that Amendola had no real shot to play that Sunday. A week might be enough to get Amendola out to Cincinnati but not to actually play. After all, the injury-prone wide receiver is still limited in practice. The best that he could really hope for is to be questionable for the game.

It’s anyone’s guess as to when Amendola returns. He could very well play on Sunday, but if you follow the clues the more realistic expectation would be for Amendola to miss another game.

Philip Alexander is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @steely0906, “like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.