Tom Brady: 'We're struggling without key players'

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has admitted that his offense is struggling without some of their key players.

Brady was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 53 games in his side's defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, as the Patriots floundered without tight end Rob Gronkowski and running backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen.

"Hopefully when some guys get healthy that will give us a little margin of error because we'll have some real physical mismatches out there," Brady told radio station WEEI.

"But until that happens we're going to have to continue to do what we can to grind it out."

The Patriots are 4-1 in their season after week five.