FOXBORO, Mass. — Until Thursday night, Danny Amendola’s season might as well have been penned by H.G. Wells — the slot receiver has been The Invisible Man in the New England Patriots’ offense.
Amendola churned out his most impactful performance in a Patriots uniform in the team’s 27-25 win over the New York Jets since his 10-catch, 104-yard performance in Week 1 of the 2013 season. Part of his success on Thursday was finding a new role in New England.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick sent Amendola back to return kickoffs against the Jets, and he returned four for 105 yards, giving the Patriots field position at their 30-, 26- and 29-yard line.
Returning kicks is nothing new for Amendola, who led the NFL in kick returns (66) and yards (1,618) in 2009 with the St. Louis Rams He had 50 returns for 1,142 yards in 2010, but has only had two since, both coming in 2012 as injuries started to catch up to the undersized receiver.
“I thought Danny really stepped up and gave us a lot of energy on the kickoff returns — and obviously that touchdown catch was a great catch,” Belichick said after the Patriots’ win in his news conference.
The catch was a thing of beauty.
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Quarterback Tom Brady did his best Michael Vick impression, running to his right after the play broke down. Amendola knew what to do, since the Patriots practice the scramble drill multiple times a week, and did his own freelancing, extending his route after running a hitch.
“It was just a scramble,” Amendola said. “We work on that drill once a week, twice a week. It was just another drill we work on in situations.”
That’s why the Patriots spend two hours on the practice field every Friday, to work on situations like Amendola’s fourth-quarter touchdown.
“It’s one thing to practice it and then to apply it in the game, it just happens so quickly,” Brady said Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. “You see the guy and boom — you squirt through and he made a phenomenal catch.”
Brady wasn’t the only person impressed with Amendola’s catch. New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan had some sarcastic praise for Amendola’s ad-libbing and his own team’s incompetence.
“I don’t know, it was just the greatest route in the history of the game, I think,” Ryan said. “I think we were shocked that he would run a route to the goal line (in that situation).”
Amendola might not have fully impressed Rex, but his teammates were happy that Amendola’s hard work in practice finally paid off. Coming into the game, Amendola only had four catches for 23 yards with numerous others called back because of penalties (including a 6-yarder on Thursday).
“He deserves that,” fellow wide receiver Julian Edelman said. “He’s been working tough. It’s always good to see guys put work in and get something out of it.”
Amendola capped off his impressive game with an onside kick return, which allowed the Patriots to kill some clock before giving the ball back to the Jets.
“I always told him he’s gonna come through, just gotta keep working hard, stay humble, keep rolling, keep grinding, and that’s what he does every week,” tight end (and apparent motivational speaker) Rob Gronkowski said. “Doesn’t say a word, keeps grinding and very happy to see that happen — see him make some plays.”
Amendola said it was “fun” to return kicks again, and it seems like the Patriots found a mid-season winner to fill that role, which has been manned by safety Patrick Chung. Amendola, taught well by Belichick, said the win was more important than his individual success, however.
“We came out on top, and that’s what I’m most excited about,” Amendola said. “I’ve caught a lot of balls in a game and lost. I’ve caught a lot of balls in a game and won. I’ve caught zero balls in a game and won and zero balls in a game and lost, and no matter what, to come out on top is most important.”
