The New England Patriots have placed Rex Burkhead on injured reserve.

Burkhead, who was on the injury report with a concussion the week after a season-opening win over the Houston Texans, left Sunday night's loss against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter. The team reported he had a neck injury.

Without Burkhead, whom the Patriots had signed to a three-year, $9.75 million free-agent contract in the offseason, first-round draft choice Sony Michel becomes the top option at running back, with James White filling the "passing back" role and Kenjon Barner - who agreed to terms on Tuesday to return to the team -- adding depth.

Rob Gronkowski has combined for just six catches and 66 yards in the New England Patriots' back-to-back losses and it's weighing on the tight end.

Chris Gronkowski said in an interview with WEEI that Rob is getting frustrated.

"Usually a tight end is being covered by a linebacker, who really can't cover anyone," Chris Gronkowski said. "When you're giving up two of your best defenders — two safeties or a corner and a safety — to cover a tight end, your guys on the outside should be able to win.

"It's just super frustrating to watch, and they've got to figure something out."

Chris went on to discuss Rob's relationship with the Patriots.

"It was kind of a crazy offseason," Chris said. "There wasn't a ton of communication between [Rob and the Patriots]. He wanted to get paid what he deserved. He wanted to be paid as one of the top tight ends for once. It's been a struggle for him to make that money. ...

"[Rob] knows what he needs to get done. He just wanted some more freedom, and he wanted to get what he deserves. He was being paid like he was just a mediocre tight end and just wanted to get some respect on that front."

The New England Patriots and Detroit Lions were close to a trade last offseason involving Rob Gronkowski.

When Gronkowski discovered he could be traded to Detroit that week, he threatened to retire rather than go to the Lions.

Gronkowski declined to return calls from the Lions.

Sources say Gronkowski's position was more related to not wanting to leave the Patriots rather than play for the Lions. Gronkowski wouldn't have reported to any team.

Tom Brady said Josh Gordon is "really eager to get in there and learn everything" through three practices, but acknowledged they have a long way to go to develop a rapport.

"Look, he's been here for a few days, so we're working at it everyday, and every day you try to make improvements," Brady said Friday.

Gordon is officially questionable for Sunday night's game at the Detroit Lions.

"It's up to the coaches to decide those things," Brady said. "You could limit the number of plays and try to do that, and I think we've done that plenty of times. That's any time you get new players, that's what you try to do."

Tom Brady felt trapped this past offseason and wasn't sure if he wanted to play for Bill Belichick anymore, according to a new book on the coach's life.

"If you're married 18 years to a grouchy person who gets under your skin and never compliments you, after a while you want to divorce him," a source with knowledge of the Brady-Belichick relationship told ESPN's Ian O'Connor, author of "Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time," after the 2017 season.

"Tom knows Bill is the best coach in the league, but he's had enough of him. If Tom could, I think he would divorce him."

O'Connor interviewed 350 people (Belichick didn't cooperate) and reports in the book that Brady was so upset with his coach that he still wasn't certain in late March if he would return to the New England Patriots.

"But in the end, even if he wanted to, Brady could not walk away from the game, and he could not ask for a trade," O'Connor wrote. "The moment Belichick moved [Jimmy] Garoppolo to San Francisco, and banked on Brady's oft-stated desire to play at least into his mid-forties, was the moment Brady was virtually locked into suiting up next season and beyond. Had he retired or requested a trade, he would have risked turning an adoring New England public into an angry mob."

The New England Patriots traded for Josh Gordon on Monday, but Tom Brady isn't going to place unrealistic expectations on his new receiver.

"You know, I hate to make projections and expectations. That's not fair," Brady said. "I've never met Josh personally, just like I hadn't met some of the guys that have come in the last couple weeks. So we'll see how it goes this week and hopefully he can work hard, put the team first and end up helping us in any role that he can find for himself on the team."

Brady pointed out that it will take time to develop chemistry with Gordon.

"Any time you get someone in the middle of the season, there's obviously a lot of things that have happened that have got the team to a certain point that they weren't a part of," Brady said. "So you know, I'm not sure how many of those things matter, but you'd like to try to get up to speed as quickly as possible and it's really up to the individuals... You know all these things need to play themselves out. I'm not going to project anything. I'm just going to try to go be the positive, enthusiastic leader that I am and try to be a great quarterback and try to embrace whoever's on the team. And we've all got to play a lot better than we played yesterday and that's really where our focus should be."

The New England Patriots have acquired Josh Gordon in a trade with the Cleveland Browns for a fifth round pick. If Gordon isn't active for 10 games, they will get a late round pick back from the Browns.

The Browns made it known over the weekend that they were planning to release Gordon if they couldn't trade him.

Gordon also had interest in the Cowboys and 49ers.

Gordon's strained hamstring is not serious and he's expected to play in Week 3 against the Lions.

Rex Burkhead is in the concussion protocol.

Burkhead played more snaps (37) than any Patriots running back in Sunday's season-opening win over the Houston Texans, a number that is reflective of his place on the depth chart.

Burkhead's value to the Patriots extends beyond rushing the football (he had a team-high 64 yards on 18 carries in the opener).

The New England Patriots have signed Corey Coleman and Bennie Fowler.

The Patriots have had a revolving door at receiver in 2018, as they are buying time until Julian Edelman returns from a four-game NFL suspension. Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett are atop the depth chart, with Cordarrelle Patterson the No. 3 option.

Coleman entered the NFL as a 2016 first-round draft choice of the Cleveland Browns, but never reached the expectations that come with being selected with the No. 15 pick.

Jeremy Hill will miss the rest of the 2018 season with a torn ACL.

Hill signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the New England Patriots after four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals.