Ivan Fears on the Patriots being fumblers: ‘That’s our reputation right now’

After five weeks, the Patriots have at least one trait that’s become fairly obvious to their opponents: they like to put the ball on the ground.

With four fumbles in the first five games, including two in the red zone by Damien Harris, word has gotten around to opposing teams to punch away because the Patriots will likely give it up.

Running backs coach Ivan Fears, always a straight-shooter, didn’t argue the point when asked about it during his media session Tuesday.

“That’s our reputation right now. That’s not a secret. Now, let’s be honest. It would be crazy for anybody to think anything other than that,” said Fears. “We’ve turned the ball over in key situations going in for scores. That would have given us two games by now. That would have made the difference in two games.

“So that is a fact that we’ve got to deal with and we’re gonna have to — it’s gonna take us all year to get that out of people’s mind.  All year,” he went on. “And believe me, we’re going to be working at it, it’s not something where anybody’s happy about. I don’t think the players are happy about it, we’re not happy about it. But we’ve got to — the only way you change that stat is you do it during play. That’s when you change it.”

Fears agreed one key for Harris is keeping the ball closer to his body.

As for Rhamondre Stevenson, who was benched three games after fumbling in the season opener, he actually needs to loosen up. He might have been a little too cautious trying not to fumble, and that affected his play against the Texans.

“He was almost very nervous to carry the ball. He can’t — we can’t play that way. He’s got to let himself play. And I think he will. I really do,” said Fears. “And I think those guys will learn some of the little things when the ball is away from their body. That’s the kind of stuff we got to break, we just got to break that habit, having the ball away from their body. They keep it in their body, they’ll be fine.”

Fears said Stevenson, who had just 23 yards on 11 carries, finally got unhinged as the game went along.

“He turned it loose. Hey, we’re going to get the cowbell going with that boy, he’s going to turn it loose, and we’ll be alright,” said Fears. “Believe me, we will be alright. I like the kid. He’s a conscious kid trying to do what’s right and he’s made some great strides in the few weeks that we had to sit him down. But I’m really happy and I hope he has a chance to show everybody what he’s really all about.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3iW393n