FOXBORO — The Patriots might have a spotless 3-0 record. They might have a defense that is trending toward some historic statistical markers. They might still have the best quarterback in football.
But they're a team in need.
Tight end is the position group that stands out at the moment as a group that could use a boost.
This summer's projected starter Matt LaCosse has been too banged up to play in two of the team's first three games. He's been limited in practice this week with an ankle issue.
Ryan Izzo, meanwhile, has been the go-to option at tight end and made a 41-yard catch in the first quarter of last week's win over the Jets. His noteworthy contributions, though, both as a receiver and blocker have been few and far between. He's also been limited in practice this week as he deals with a calf injury.
Receiver, one could argue, remains a position of need as well. The Patriots have Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Phillip Dorsett as their top three options. But when Edelman was hurt in the first half against the Jets, his injury highlighted how quickly things thin out at the position.
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Because of a lack of tight end depth, the Patriots are among the league-leaders in plays run without a tight end (53). Only the Cardinals — who run primarily four-wide sets under new coach Kliff Kingsbury — have run more (133). That means that without Edelman or Gordon, who was hurt for a brief stretch last week, undrafted rookies Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski are thrust into critical positions.
"Our offense has a lot of work to do . . . We're gonna need to get some healthy bodies out there," Tom Brady told WEEI this week. "We're gonna need some experienced players. It's just too hard, football, to put a bunch of new players in there and think we're going to be spectacular."
That leads us to this: The Patriots worked out a handful of (relatively) experienced players at both receiver and tight end recently.
At receiver, the team put former Raiders wideout Ryan Grant through the paces, according to ESPN. The 28-year-old spent four seasons with Washington, where he played in every game and put together a standout 2017 with 45 catches for 573 yards and four touchdowns. He's latched on briefly with the Colts and Raiders since then, playing in two games for Oakland this season. Under Jon Gruden, at a position group trying to put things together without Antonio Brown, Grant had four catches for 14 yards.
At tight end, per ESPN, the Patriots worked out Ben Koyack, Eric Tomlinson and Gabe Holmes. Koyack was a seventh-round pick out of Notre Dame for the Jaguars in 2015. He started seven games in 2016 and caught 19 passes for 161 yards and a score. He made five catches the following season and didn't see a target last year in seven games. Tomlinson played in three games for the Giants this year. Prior to that he spent three years with the Jets and caught 16 passes on 25 targets for 193 yards. Holmes has spent time with five teams, most recently the Colts who waived him at the end of training camp this summer.
All of those workouts could simply be fact-finding missions. The Patriots haven't made a move just yet on any of them, and they may not make a move on any of them.
But they're looking. Because as well as they've performed through three games, there are areas on the roster that could use addressing.
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