Pats May Have Moved On, but They Haven't Forgotten Their Bond with Josh Gordon

ATLANTA — For a team often accused of being a bunch of drones, the Patriots players have been notably heartfelt this week in discussing the teammate who isn't here—Josh Gordon. 

They've talked about the plays he made. They've remarked how surprised they were at how quickly he ingratiated himself to the team and remember the stories, laughs and passion he displayed. Perhaps most of all, they remain struck at how stunningly talented he was. 

Gordon has generated the kind of affection the Patriots rarely display publicly about any player. Or, really, anything. The Patriots routinely preach about never looking back, but they are making an exception for Gordon.

"Josh is still on this team as far as we're concerned," Patriots wide receiver Phillip Dorsett said at the team's hotel this week.

"Obviously, we want him to be here as a teammate, a player and a person," Dorsett said. "We definitely would want him to be here. It is a little heartbreaking. At the end of the day, we have to focus on what we have in this locker room. We [have to] go out there and try to win; that's the only thing we can worry about."

A story in Sports Illustrated's The MMQB noted that Patriots players haven't reached out to Gordon, that they were following The Patriot Way and "focusing on the people in the building, and casting aside those who are not."

But as the week has gone on, Patriots players have opened up about Gordon, who was suspended indefinitely in December by the NFL for again violating the league's substance abuse policy. These haven't been the standard, emotionless generalities of wishing him well but words laced with genuine feeling. It has been the opposite of The Patriot Way.

Despite his absence from Super Bowl LIII, Gordon is still considered such a part of the team that—should the Patriots beat the Rams—the organization plans to give Gordon a Super Bowl ring.

"We think of him often," wide receiver Matthew Slater said of Gordon, "we pray for him all the time. We want to see him be successful in life.

"You're talking about a guy with those physical gifts who could take over a game on his own," Slater said. "There aren't a lot of those guys walking around planet Earth."

Billie Weiss/Getty Images

In just 11 games with New England, Gordon had 40 catches, three touchdowns and a team-high 720 yards. Coaches and team officials from around the NFL always spoke of Gordon as one of the most physically gifted players in football. The Patriots saw it firsthand. 

"Believe all the hype," receiver Chris Hogan said. "He was a physical freak."

Hogan even said Gordon is a big reason why the Patriots are in the Super Bowl. He wasn't alone in that belief.

"I think it would be foolish for any of us to think we'd be here without his contributions this season," Slater said.

"I remember being surprised the week he got there because he already knew half of our offense and play calls,'' Hogan added. "That just blew me away. He went in there early and stayed there late just to learn our offense so that he could get on the field and try to make plays for us. When he was able to get out there, he was a playmaker."

But he's a playmaker the Patriots won't have this Sunday. Much like the Rams, who have overcome the loss of receiver Cooper Kupp, the Patriots have adjusted without their field-stretching talent and still won. It doesn't mean things would be easier for each team if Kupp (who tore his ACL in Week 10) and Gordon were on the field, but both franchises have moved on by embracing the league's "next man up" mantra.

Still, as the Patriots have shown this week, the game isn't governed alone by that revolving-door mentality; it's also a game of human connections.

The Rams adapted to the loss of Kupp. The Patriots' loss of Gordon was different but still highly impactful.

"It's a terrible situation that our guy was in," Pats receiver Julian Edelman said.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said at his annual press conference Wednesday that the NFL wants Gordon to focus on becoming healthy again.

"Right now, the focus is what can we do to help Josh get to that place," Goodell said.

Indeed, there are a lot of former and current teammates rooting for Gordon. Former Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas once told me Gordon was "a really good guy." Players have long loved him because, as the Patriots players now say, they felt he was a genuine person. Flawed, like many of us, but genuine.

Winslow Townson/Associated Press/Associated Press

Pats owner Robert Kraft told NBC Sports Boston's Boston Sports Tonight on Tuesday that Gordon's case took its toll on the team's emotions:

"He was a real good guy and there was a connection. Unfortunately, people like that need mentoring at a young age, but when it becomes addiction, addiction is something that is way beyond our... We gave him tremendous support on a daily basis, and he was worthy. But I think we as a society have to try to help these young people not to get addicted in the first place, and that's the sad part of this. He's a good guy—a really good guy. It makes us sad."

Kraft's son Jonathan, who joined his father on the show, pinpointed how much of an impact Gordon had on the New England locker room:

"That football locker room, especially in our place, you have to be somebody that's smart, that's committed to week-in and week-out understanding what's going to be asked of you mentally as well as being willing to work physically and then being selfless. ... Our team took to Josh very quickly because he had those attributes, and unfortunately he had some personal demons. ... I'm sure if you ask guys this week, they would tell you they wish he was here with us."

It's rare to hear such emotion from the Patriots.

Maybe they aren't just machines after all.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.