AFC Notes: Amendola, Sanchez, Mettenberger

Patriots receiver Danny Amendola underwent a pair of surgeries this offseason, reports Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. The 30-year-old had surgery on his injured left knee, and he also had an operation to remove a bone spur in his ankle. Despite these ailments, Amendola still managed to play 14 games last season, compiling 65 catches for 648 yards and three touchdowns.

There is hope that Amendola will be healthy enough for training camp, but the organization is not planning on rushing him back. Since it’s so early in the process, Howe notes that there is “no guarantee” that the wideout will be ready for Week 1.

Let’s check out some more notes from around the AFC…

• Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez injured his left thumb in the weight room last week, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The 29-year-old underwent surgery on Saturday, but he is only expected to miss “a few OTAs.”
• Broncos tight end Jeff Heuerman says he’s back to 100% on his knee, as Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post tweets. Heuerman, the 92nd overall pick in last year’s draft, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during rookie camp last year and missed the entire 2015 season.
• Indianapolis castoff Bjoern Werner could be another late bloomer for the Jaguars, Hays Carlyon of The Florida Times-Union writes. Buffalo struck gold in the 2013 offseason when they traded with Indy for defensive end Jerry Hughes, a player who many had written off. Since then, Hughes has racked up 25 sacks for Jacksonville over the last three seasons. Werner has yet to produce in the NFL, but he is still just 25 years old and could theoretically turn things around with a change of scenery. The Jaguars signed Werner to a prove-it deal late last week.
• The Titans released Zach Mettenberger today in order to give him a chance to do his OTAs and minicamp with a team and learn their system, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Zach Links contributed to this post.