Patriots TE Hunter Henry predicts Jonnu Smith will break out soon

Over the past two weeks, Mac Jones’ connection with star tight end Hunter Henry has come alive.

Henry caught six passes for 75 yards and a touchdown against the Texans last week, all season highs.

Now, it’s Jonnu Smith’s turn.

Henry believes it won’t be long before the other half of Patriots’ vaunted tight end duo also finds his chemistry with Jones. In fact, Henry predicts Smith, who also signed a lucrative free agent deal to join the Pats, will have a breakout soon.

“He’s going to come on,” Henry said Thursday. “I’m excited to see him break out.”

And this could very well be the week. The Cowboys are the second-worst in the league defending tight ends, according to Football Outsiders’ popular efficiency metric, DVOA. So it’s reasonable to assume both of them should be targeted heavily by the rookie quarterback.

Smith had two catches for 27 yards against the Texans. Overall, he’s pulled in 15 receptions on 23 targets during the season. He’s also caught one touchdown pass.

The expectation was for Smith to be a game-changer. Thus far, it hasn’t happened.

Asked how Smith has handled his slow start, Henry couldn’t have been more complimentary.

“He’s been fantastic. He’s a stud, man. He’s fun to be around, works his tail off,” said Henry. “There’s a lot of competition in the room, always trying to compete with each other, and against our guys, and on the field. I think it’s a healthy room where we’re always trying to better ourselves, communicate better, so those things are continuing to improve.”

Henry says he’s been supportive, but believes Smith does a good job handling the adversity on his own.

“Man, he’s been doing this for awhile. Obviously, I’m going to be there and encourage him through some of those tough times. But the man, he’s done it for a while,” said Henry. “He knows what he’s doing.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3mTW44v