Grey's Anatomy really is shifting since the departure of Patrick Dempsey from the medical drama.

Watch A Teaser From 'Grey's anatomy' Season 11 Reel Of Bloopers!

With the death of Dempsey's character Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd there is plenty of room to focus on the other medical staff characters in more significant ways.

Dr. Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) and Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) happen to be some of the medical staff that will be earning meatier storylines heading into Seaosn 12.

'Grey's Anatomy' Season 12 Will 'Honor The Fact That Callie Is Bisexual'

These doctors are together, but viewers of the series haven't really been able to know them as a couple the way they have with Derek and Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) for instance.

That's about to change though according to showrunner Shonda Rhimes.

She told TVLine that because of Dempsey's departure certain storylines they wanted to tell got put on hold.

"We had a lot of stories we wanted to tell with them last season, and I promised the fans, 'We're going to tell all these Alex and Jo stories...,'" she explained, adding, "And then we had to take a left turn because Patrick was leaving. And now we want to tell a lot of those stories - except in a lighter way. So there's a real focus on them this season."

"I feel like we didn't get to know Jo the way we should," Rhimes dished, adding, "And Alex is sort of a grown man now; it's time to watch that happen."

Grey's Anatomy returns to ABC on Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. ET for its season 12 premiere.

Tags: greys anatomy television ABC