Dwayne Allen spent his first five seasons catching passes from Andrew Luck in Indianapolis. Now he's snatching them from Tom Brady in New England. The transition to the new offense hasn't exactly gone smoothly.
Allen admitted the Patriots' offense is difficult to pick up quickly.
"It is extremely hard," Allen said, via the Boston Herald. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it."
Allen isn't the first veteran to find the transition to New England's offense tough. Chad Johnson famously struggled to pick up the route combinations on the fly.
The 27-year-old joined an offense where the main moving parts -- Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman -- have been together for years. Allen has slowly made strides picking up the offense. He reportedly looked more comfortable in training camp after admitting to a "horrible" spring.
"It is hard but also stimulating and very exciting," Allen said of learning the offense. "It is one of those things that where you pray for something so long, and when it comes, you can't cry because it's harder than you thought it was going to be.
"You have to accept that and be grateful for it."
The Patriots love their multifaceted two-tight end sets, which means there should be plenty of opportunity for Allen to play a large role alongside Gronkowski this season. Assuming he continues to grow in the offense, Allen is also great insurance if Gronk suffers another injury.
