Feeling Gronky

The big question surrounding the New England Patriots heading into Week 4 has been, “Will Rob Gronkowski or Danny Amendola play against the Falcons?”

That question has been answered and the answer is no, the Patriots announced. Earlier, the Patriots left for Atlanta on Saturday and neither Gronkowski nor Amendola made the trip, according to ESPN.com.

Like everything with the Patriots, the status of Gronkowski and Amendola (groin) has been shrouded in secrecy all week. On Friday, the belief was that both Gronkowski and Amendola would play against the Falcons. Both players were listed as questionable on the Patriots final injury report this week, meaning the team felt there was at least a 50 percent chance Gronk and Amendola could play.

On Saturday, a report surfaced saying that Gronkowski didn’t want to play against the Falcons because he didn’t feel he was ready to absorb contact for an entire game. However, the Patriots reportedly felt he was healthy enough to play, though the decision eventually was made to sit the TE. Gronkowski reportedly has his sights set on a return closer to Week 6.

Patriots at Falcons Additional Notes:

The Falcons have outscored their opponents, 31-0, in the first quarter this season, though with a 1-2 record heading into Sunday night’s game, they haven’t been able to sustain their fast starts.

New England, on the other hand, has pitched a fourth-quarter shutout over its first three games, allowing the offense to come from behind against Buffalo, hold on against the Jets, and keep the Buccaneers from mounting a late-game comeback.

“Obviously at that point in the game [fourth quarter] is when every play becomes more critical than the previous play, and that’s when you have to focus and play your best and really get everybody on the same page of what we are trying to accomplish,” defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. “Certainly that is a point of emphasis for us.

“You want to execute to your fullest ability and do your job exactly how we need it to get done, along with the communication factor we are trying to stress and emphasize.”

Coach Bill Belichick noted how experienced Atlanta’s offense is, which is in contrast to the Buffalo and New York games, when the Patriots’ defense faced rookie quarterbacks.

“It’s been good so far but we’ll see. As we know, you’re only as good as your last game,” Belichick said. “It’s starting all over again this week against a very good offense, a very explosive offense and a very experienced group. These guys have been doing this for a long time with a lot of the same players, a lot of the same coaches and system and so forth.

“It’ll be a big challenge for us, but it’s been good that we’ve been able to finish games where we’ve made stops at the end to either get the ball back or keep the Jets or Tampa from scoring at the end to close the gap. It’s something that we’ve preached and worked hard at. It’s certainly been a positive that this group has played well for 60 minutes.”