FOXBORO — The Patriots offense was clearly missing something this past Sunday.

Tom Brady repeatedly forced the ball to Josh Gordon with mixed results. Chris Hogan didn’t record a catch. The running game sputtered in its limited opportunity. Really, the only consistent playmaker was Julian Edelman, who topped 100 yards for the second time in three games.

The eventual return of Rob Gronkowski should provide major help.

“Whenever we get him back, I think everyone is going to be excited about that,” Brady said yesterday. “Hopefully it’s soon, but those things are really up to him and the trainers and so forth. I know he works extremely hard preparing and so forth, and I know he wants to be out there.”

Brady admitted things are different with Gronk on the field.

“I’ve played a lot of football with him, and I think I have a lot of trust and confidence (in him),” Brady said, “A lot of things have happened over the years. When he’s not there, there’s just a different level with other players. Sometimes we don’t try some things because Gronk’s not in there. Sometimes we do. Obviously, the more dependable, consistent players you have on the field, the more productive and efficient you’ll be, which leads to scoring more points, which leads to better opportunity to win the game, which is ultimately the reason we’re all here.”

Gronkowski has missed three of the past four games as he deals with ankle and back injuries. He made the trip to Nashville for Sunday’s game, but did not suit up. Gronkowski watched from the sideline in sweats as the Pats offense struggled to get anything going.

Injury updates

The Patriots are relatively healthy heading into their bye week.

Only one player, tight end Dwayne Allen, was absent from yesterday’s practice, the only on-field session they’ll hold this week. Players are off today through Sunday.

Edelman and offensive tackle Trent Brown were present. Both players exited Sunday’s loss to the Titans and did not return. Edelman was dealing with an ankle injury, while Brown suffered a back injury.

Edelman spoke to reporters after the 34-10 loss in Tennessee, which is usually an indication the injury isn’t serious.

“We’ll see how it feels tomorrow,” Edelman said.

Allen is expected to miss time with his knee injury, according to the NFL Network.

The Patriots have not added another tight end. For now, Jacob Hollister is the only healthy tight end on the roster.

Familiar face

In search of special teams help, the Patriots brought back veteran linebacker Ramon Humber.

Humber was with the team in the 2016 offseason, but didn’t make it through final cuts. He latched on with Buffalo and started 10 games from 2016-17. He recorded 89 tackles a year ago.

Humber served mostly as a special teams player for the Bills this season before being released last weekend. The 31-year-old takes the place of linebacker/special teamer Nicholas Grigsby, who was released on Tuesday.

The Patriots special teams units have been substandard this season. They rank fourth-worst in the NFL allowing 26.4 yards per return.

Bye, bye Brady

Brady got his bye week started early. He and wife Gisele Bundchen were in attendance for a showing of “Hamilton” on Tuesday night in Boston.

“Oh, I love ‘Hamilton,’ ” Brady said. “It’s my third time seeing it. Yeah, it’s a great show. Anyone who’s here should go see it. It was great in New York. It was actually really good last night. I loved it.”

Asked if he could provide a rendition of any song, Brady smiled and said, “No. Although I did tell my wife, one day I would love to just be on that show for, I don’t know, a week. But I would need a lot of practice.”

“He might have the rap skills, but I think it’s going to be the dancing that keeps him ultimately from being cast in that role,” joked Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater.

Twitter: @KevinRDuffy