Daily Madden: Patriots Move Quickly On Hernandez
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The New England Patriots released tight end Aaron Hernandez following his arrest in a murder investigation Wednesday.
"That's something that they had to decide as this thing went on," John Madden told the KCBS Radio morning crew. "For the Patriots it probably had gone far enough that they said he can't be part of our organization anymore."
John said the severity of the situation won't be something the team can quickly forget.
"We're talking about a murder. Whether he did it or not, I don't think it's like a little toothache or something, (like) the toothache goes away and now we can move on... Whatever happens to him or whatever he did, he was still a teammate, and that's the life part of it."
Madden said Hernandez' release also leaves the team short at the tight end position. The team's other tight end, Rob Gronkowski, is recovering from injury.
"You don't know when he'll be ready and Hernandez isn't going to be with the team," Madden said. "That does affect the football side right there."
There's talk the 49ers may move tight end Vernon Davis to the wide receiver position, with receiver Michael Crabtree sidelined for at least most of the season with an injury.
"(Vernon Davis) is a tight end who can do those kinds of things," Madden said. "He can still be a tight end and line up in the wide receiver position, which he's done before. With Crabtree (gone), I think that will be a bigger part of the offense."
John said Davis will like the idea.
"The more they move him around, the more he can be a target. The more he's a target, the more balls he's going to get, and the cooler he will become." (5:25)
Daily Madden
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