Patriots need Josh Gordon to play on Sunday

Tom Brady is struggling heavily to get this New England offense going, but Josh Gordon could give him a much-needed hand this week.

Things are not very sunny in New England right now, as the Patriots have experienced brutal, ugly losses in back-to-back weeks — a rare occurrence for this team.

They were beaten down by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2, and then followed up with an embarrassing 26-10 defeat to the previously winless Detroit Lions. In that game, the Patriots struggled mightily to get anything going offensively. They might have Tom Brady calling signals, but there’s not much the five-team champion can do witch such a depleted receiving core and an inexperienced rookie (Sony Michel) leading the running game.

This Sunday, the Patriots will face the 3-0 Miami Dolphins, who are currently in first place in the AFC East, in a game that they will need to win to avoid falling three games behind Miami in the division race. They need someone to spark the offense, and that’s why newly-acquired receiver Josh Gordon needs to play on Sunday.

And he needs to have a good game.

New England traded for Gordon before their Week 3 game in Detroit, but Gordon was inactive due to a hamstring injury. They are without the suspended Julian Edelman for one more game, and they’re going to need someone to get this offense going if they are going to hand the Dolphins their first loss of the season.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels believes Gordon should fit in just fine in his offense.

“I’m not worried at all about Josh’s ability to pick up our system,” McDaniels told reporters, via NFL.com. “He’s already demonstrated an ability to do that. I think he’ll be fine and the guys we have are doing the same thing.”

In three games this year, the top receivers for the Patriots have been Chris Hogan, Cordarelle Patterson and Philip Dorsett, and lead running back Jeremy Hill suffered a torn ACL against the Houston Texans in Week 1. It’s no wonder why this offense has essentially been lifeless in these last two games.

But the Patriots will be in a must-win situation on Sunday against the Dolphins, and they will only do that if someone can give this lackluster offense a spark. Gordon can do just that if he gets cleared to play.