Wide receiver Aaron Dobson hasn't suited up the last two weeks for the New England Patriots, which means that all told the former second round pick has been inactive for three of the first four weeks of the 2014 season.
His inactive status was viewed by many as a sign that the foot injury that limited his preseason had somehow been re-aggravated; even though he hadn't appeared on the injury report since before the regular season began.
But Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe is reporting that Dobson was not in fact injured - he was benched.
Young states that sources told her Dobson "mouthed off" to New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and that's the reason he was inactive against Oakland and Kansas City.
This is bad news for Patriots fans and for Dobson, as he was viewed by many coming out of Marshall in the 2013 draft as immature.
As a rookie Dobson played well, amassing 519 yards on 37 catches with four touchdowns in 12 games. In his lone game action this season, in Week 2 against Minnesota, Dobson had one reception for 13 yards on two targets and an offensive pass interference penalty.
Dobson only played 12 games his rookie season because of the foot injury which required offseason surgery and forced him to miss time during the 2014 preseason.
Dobson though, is now fully healthy and missing games due in large part to having had "at least one loud disagreement with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels."
The Patriots went with just three full-time wide receivers in their loss to Kansas City.
Dobson is not the first and won't be the last NFL player to have maturity issues. New England, long known for their strong team culture, has been able to handle troubled personalities in the past.
If Dobson is going to contribute this season to a team that could desperately use an injection of talent on the offensive side of the ball, he's going to have to grow up fast, learn to control his emotions and get in line.
