Patriots WR Jakobi Meyers takes advantage of expanded role in loss to Bills
As he snagged catch after catch and continued to receive targets from Cam Newton in Sunday’s loss to the Bills, one question was evident: Where had Jakobi Meyers been all season?
For a Patriots offense starved for production in the passing game, the second-year wide receiver continued to be the answer. Meyers showed he was capable at times as a rookie, and given an opportunity the last two weeks with injuries depleting the wide receiver group, he’s once again proven to be dependable.
A week after hauling in four receptions for 60 yards in relief of N’Keal Harry after he went down with a head injury, Meyers was Newton’s most reliable weapon on Sunday. Without Harry and Julian Edelman, who went on injured reserve with a knee problem, Meyers had six receptions for 58 yards on a team-leading and career-high 10 targets, in addition to a two-point conversion late in the third quarter that tied the game.
They weren’t eye-popping numbers, but given how poorly the Patriots have performed in the air of late, they were much needed. Meyers, who was inactive for the Patriots’ losses to the Chiefs and Broncos in early October, stayed ready.
“I come to work every day, I try to practice as hard as I can, be alert as I can in meetings, know everybody’s responsibilities, so God forbid, we have a guy go down, I can jump in if they need me to,” Meyers said. “I try to build trust with the coaches every day. I just try to come in and be a better person and better player every day.”
With Harry and Edelman out, the Patriots had just four active receivers on Sunday, and they were all undrafted — Meyers, Damiere Byrd, Gunner Olszewski and Isaiah Zuber. Meyers quickly became the focal point, grabbing Newton’s first pass of the game as the quarterback often looked his way on passing opportunities.
Meyers was the recipient of what might have been the Patriots’ biggest pass play of the game, expertly using his footwork to get open for a seven-yard completion on third down on their final drive. If it weren’t for Newton’s last-minute fumble, that would have been looked at as the key play of a game-tying or even game-winning drive.
But one thing is clear: Newton clearly has trust in Meyers, who also had 31 yards wiped out by penalties on catches of 17 and 14 yards. That chemistry with Newton is building, and it showed on Sunday.
“I feel like we’re turning in the right direction,” Meyers said. “Hopefully we can keep building on that and keep it going and keep improving. …
“I feel like we’ve had days where we’re not at our best and have had days where we’re pretty solid,” Meyers said when asked if the chemistry with Newton is evident during practices. “That’s what practice is for. I feel like today was a good showing of all the bad days we’ve had and good days coming together and finally we’re figuring it out.”
It’s been a long time coming for Meyers, who has struggled to find consistent playing time and is finally seeing his work come to fruition. All along, Meyers has understood the reasons why he wasn’t getting his opportunity yet and avoided being frustrated at the situation.
“Just trying to stay as patient as possible,” Meyers said. “Trying to have trust and understanding the coaches had a plan, keeping my confidence up, believing that I knew when my opportunity would come that I’d be ready to go. …
“Just overall football,” the receiver said of what he was told to work on while he tried to earn more playing time. “And then I had great receivers in front of me (Harry and Edelman) … it was really just waiting my turn and not falling backwards, not showing attitude that I wasn’t playing. Just trusting in God, trusting in my coaches.”
Bill Belichick said last week that Meyers’ production should earn him more playing time, so it’s safe to expect he will continue to earn more opportunities after his performance Sunday, especially as Edelman remains out and Harry works his way back.
“Stepping stones,” Meyers said. “We’re building on trying to be better every week and come out next and try to do more than we did this week, and just improve every day.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3oXxGz8
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