Amendola isn’t expected to play Sunday against the Buccaneers, and didn’t look close to being ready for a game in the brief portion of practice made accessible to the media. He was running at less than full speed and not cutting sharply in receiver drills.

Another tight end, Zach Sudfeld, participated fully. He has had a hamstring injury, which caused him to miss last week’s game against the Jets. If Gronkowski can’t go, Sudfeld’s availability would likely be useful.

FOXBOROUGH — Seven Patriots were listed as limited in Wednesday’s practice, including tight end Rob Gronkowski and receiver Danny Amendola.

A league source said Tuesday that Amendola is responding well to treatment and won’t need surgery on his groin. But Amendola is expected to miss anywhere from two to six weeks, with the source putting his return on the shorter end of that scale.


The others who were limited Wednesday included running backs Brandon Bolden (knee) and Leon Washington (thigh), offensive linemen Dan Connolly (finger) and Will Svitek (knee), and defensive back Nate Ebner (ankle).

Two Patriots missed practice. Receiver/special teamer Matthew Slater has a wrist injury, and cornerback Marquice Cole was excused to attend the birth of his child.

Cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Alfonzo Dennard, both of whom missed practice Monday, were back on the field. Dennard was appearing in a Nebraska courtroom to face a probation violation hearing Monday; Talib was attending to a personal matter.