FOXBORO — In March, the Patriots signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to be their greatest receiver.
Last Sunday’s opener advised you he’s their fourth. Maybe fifth.
That is the truth the Patriots painted once they sidelined Smith-Schuster for his or her remaining drive towards the Eagles, and as a substitute opted for Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas at receiver.
Since then, Patriots coaches have stated all the precise issues about Smith-Schuster’s lack of enjoying time: he’s good and works arduous, he’s a superb participant they usually really feel positively in regards to the two rookies who performed over him. But they didn’t straight clarify why Smith-Schuster sat, which begs a bigger query.
Do the Patriots nonetheless imagine he’s the receiver they signed six months in the past for $25.5 million?
Because a two-minute drill is nothing if not a declaration of perception. This is who we’re. This is how we’re going to beat you. An offensive coordinator picks his greatest gamers, his greatest performs, and the offense flows by way of them.
In the phrases of Patriots receivers coach Ross Douglas, benching Smith-Schuster was a byproduct of that course of.
“We just did what we thought was best to be able to move the ball and score points,” Douglas stated Tuesday.
The hassle now for Smith-Schuster isn’t that he missed the top of 1 recreation. The Patriots have solely begun to wade into the waters of their new season. Smith-Schuster will get his likelihood to sink or swim.
The downside is his more and more shaky standing on the depth chart. Multiple workforce sources imagine Smith-Schuster is just not presently among the many workforce’s 5 simplest pass-catchers. According to those self same sources, his place within the offense has been sophisticated by quite a lot of components.
Start with well being.
Smith-Schuster’s surgically repaired knee has diminished a few of his explosion and run-after-catch potential that broke the tie between him and Jakobi Meyers when Patriots decision-makers determined between the 2 in free company. His knee, flatly, is just not 100%. Asked whether or not Smith-Schuster was wholesome sufficient to complete Sunday’s recreation, Pats coach Bill Belichick dodged the query in his Wednesday morning press convention.
“You know what the injury report was, with the injuries during the game and all that,” Belichick advised reporters. “So that’s the best I can tell you.”
To Smith-Schuster’s credit score, after sitting out OTAs and minicamp to rehab, he didn’t miss a single apply in coaching camp. Not a one. But again then, different forces started to threaten his enjoying time.
Namely, his teammates.
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DeVante Parker established himself because the Pats’ greatest big-play receiver. Bourne overcame a silent first week of practices to shine in his solely preseason motion and restored his reference to Mac Jones. He scored two touchdowns Sunday.
“We’ve kind of been in these situations far too often where we’re behind, and I know (Bourne)’s my go-to guy,” Jones stated Sunday.
Douglas, that slippery, sixth-round jitterbug, grew to become a made man weeks earlier than remaining roster cuts. His teammates could have seen it earlier than the coaches did.
“Most rookies, they come in here and they’re still finding themselves. … But rarely do you see guys that are able to grasp it a little faster and move at kind of a different clip. He’s been able to do that,” Pats captain Ja’Whaun Bentley advised the Herald in August. “And (he’s) established his consistency. That’s the toughest thing as a young guy, and he’s done that.”
Another sixth-round rookie, Kayshon Boutte, additionally secured his 53-man roster spot nicely earlier than cutdown day, per sources. On Sunday, Boutte noticed extra snaps than Smith-Schuster as a result of, as reported by the Herald’s Doug Kyed, he changed Parker on the workforce’s “X” receiver place, the place Smith-Schuster is not a pure match. “X” receivers usually work in isolation, the place they’re tasked with successful 1-on-1 both by separating or claiming contested catches.
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Parker, when wholesome, is anticipated to start out once more on the “X.” He is perhaps a two-trick pony — contested catches and back-shoulder throws — however these methods are worthwhile, notably within the pink zone. Bottom line: Parker will not be coming off the sector.
So that leaves Bourne, Douglas and Boutte combating with Smith-Schuster for 2 spots in three-receiver packages, and Bourne has a large head begin. He performed 91% of the Pats’ offensive snaps towards the Eagles and seems to be monitoring for probably the greatest seasons of his profession.
Meanwhile, Smith-Schuster’s 33 receiving yards Sunday trailed Douglas’ 40 and 36 from tight finish Mike Gesicki. He caught 4 passes, dropped one other, ran a subpar route on failed fourth-down conversion within the second half and watched the top of the sport from the sideline.
The final challenge entails Jones. At the outset of coaching camp, Jones declared: “the massive phrase for this coaching camp is ‘belief.’ ”
A month and a half later, it is clear Hunter Henry (six catches, 56 yards) has his belief. Parker and Bourne do, too. And Douglas and Boutte are shut, as evidenced by their snaps in Sunday’s two-minute drill, when Boutte earned two of Jones’ remaining three targets.
“They’ve done a great job, just coming in as rookies, working really hard in the weight room, in the sprints and everything. So, they’re definitely dialed in on the details,” Jones stated Wednesday. “Really, it’s just trying to make sure we’re working together, which we are. They’re smart guys, and I want them to just go out there and play fast, and I feel like they both did that.”
So the place does that depart Smith-Schuster?
Trust we’ll discover out quickly sufficient.
Source: www.bostonherald.com