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Not Even A Dislocated Finger Can Slow Down Josh Gordon

BOSTON (CBS) -- Just a friendly reminder that the Patriots acquired Josh Gordon for only a fifth-round pick.

Gordon continues to give Tom Brady another play-maker in the New England offense, turning in his finest performance in a Patriots uniform Sunday night against the Packers. The receiver hauled in five of the 10 passes that Brady sent his way for 130 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown to seal the 31-17 victory midway through the fourth quarter.

He did all of that while dealing with a dislocated finger, which he had to pop back into place a handful of times throughout the contest.

"Just like a freak accident – nothing too crazy," Gordon said of his injury following the win. "But, after one of the slant routes, I think some pressure fell on it and it dislocated, so I popped it back into place a couple times throughout the rest of the game."

Gordon now has at least 100 receiving yards in two of his last three games with the Patriots, bringing his season total to 396 yards and 22 receptions in six games since coming to New England. His 130 yards on Sunday night are the most he's had in a game since 151-yard afternoon in 2013, coincidentally against the New England Patriots.

Even with the finger discomfort, Gordon looked the most comfortable he's been in a Patriots uniform. And Brady is getting much more comfortable throwing to his new target, eager to loft one up and let his new weapon go up and haul it down.

"I love it," Gordon said of his chemistry with Brady. "We talk about it every week in practice. He enjoys doing it, I enjoy doing it. I let him know, 'If you can get anywhere in the vicinity, I'm going to try to make a play on it and make a good effort to try to go and get it.' We missed one of them – I was out of bounds – but it's great that he has a certain amount of trust in me to put it in my direction. And, I just want to come down and make a play on it, so it was awesome to have it done."

On Gordon's touchdown, Brady looked off the Packers defense before sending a dart the receiver's way. Gordon side-stepped a would be tackled before racing 55 yards to the end zone for his second touchdown as a Patriot.

"I think we caught them off-balance, switching defenses and transition," said Gordon. "They dropped back into a zone, somebody just forgot to cover me, was able to idle and Tom saw it, we all saw it and then just had to make a break on the ball and then try to finish the play after that."

"Usually it goes to [Julian Edelman] and the corner just flew up on the fake," Brady said of the connection with Gordon. "I just saw Josh, so I threw it and Julian thought I missed him, and Josh made a great catch and run. It was a big play in the game. We needed it, a big play like that."

With Rob Gronkowski sidelined with an injury and James White going down in the second quarter, Brady needed another one of his weapons to step up. Gordon was that guy, playing 57 snaps Sunday night, trailing just only Edelman's 64 snaps on the offensive side of the ball. When the final whistle sounded, Gordon walked off the field with his best performance in a New England uniform, helping the Patriots improve to 7-2 on the season.

He came to New England with several question marks about his health and commitment, but as Gordon gets more acclimated to the Patriots' system, the receiver becomes a bigger and more dangerous weapon for Brady and the New England offense.

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