FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Since New England Patriots rookie defensive end Trey Flowers burst onto the scene with an impressive sack of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the preseason opener Aug. 13, but then left the game with an injury shortly thereafter, one lingering question has been how long Flowers might be sidelined.
On Monday, there was a bit of clarity.
This doesn't appear to be a long-term type of situation.
That was one of my main takeaways from the media-access period in the Patriots locker room on Monday (4:45-5:30 p.m.), as my sense is that Flowers is primed to return sooner rather than later. The nature of his injury is unclear, but he seemed woozy on his walk back to the sideline in that Aug. 13 game.
A few other takeaways from the locker-room access period:
Receiver Danny Amendola, who was teammates with Brandon Gibson in St. Louis as well as this year in New England, shared empathy as Gibson landed on injured reserve. "It's really unfortunate," he said. "He's a great football player, and there's no doubt in my mind that he'll get his knee back and rehab it and get out there as soon as he can. Brandon and I have formed a strong relationship over the past five or six years that we've been together. Obviously, my heart sank when I found out. He has a lot of support in our room."
Receiver Brandon LaFell, who remains on the PUP list, declined an interview when approached by a reporter.
Veteran cornerback Tarell Brown played 11 snaps in Saturday's preseason game and reported his previously injured foot responded well. "I haven't played since I got put on IR in December of last year. It feels great. Having fun, man, that's the most important thing for me -- just getting back to football, enjoying the day-to-day process and grind."
Brown on his time with the Patriots so far: "One of the reasons I came here is because these guys are held to a higher standard, day in and day out."
