FOXBORO, Mass. — It would be inaccurate to say that Michael Floyd had a major impact in the Patriots’ 41-3 win over the New York Jets in his New England debut. But being inserted in the offense, getting his feet wet and even catching a 6-yard pass can only help him as he continues to acclimate to his new team, in the hopes that he can contribute in the postseason.
Fortunately, Floyd has some experience in an offense similar to New England’s from his two years playing under former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.
“Well, that was seven years ago with Charlie, my freshman and sophomore year in college, but I would say about 60 percent of it is something that I remember,” Floyd said Saturday. “So, that helps me a lot, and also the other wide receivers in the room, they really help me out because they know the ins and outs and the details of every route and every run play. They help me out if I have any confusion.”
Floyd, who was claimed by New England after the Arizona Cardinals released him following his arrest on a DUI charge, adds valuable depth to a Patriots receiver corps that was depleted by a high ankle sprain to Danny Amendola. Floyd is now the fourth man on the depth chart in an offense that typically runs three-receiver sets.
“He’s one injury away from going in and being in there every down,” quarterback Tom Brady said Saturday. “I think just him getting acclimated to being in the huddle and play calls — he’s been with one offense for a long time and our offense is quite a bit different than that. It’s just getting him involved and seeing, like we said earlier in the week, what kind of role he can carve for himself. Just watching him over the years, I have a lot of confidence in him and hopefully he can add something. But that will all be determined by him and the work he puts and the work we put in together as a team and collectively as an offense.”
Brady gave his initial assessment of Floyd.
“He’s a big, physical player that competes hard for the ball,” Brady said. “You’ve got to love that about receivers. You go out there and you put it up there and you’ve got a big guy who goes up and tries to bring it down, so he’s got to have opportunities to do that and we’ve got to find ways to try to keep getting him the ball.”
Floyd caught one pass on two targets. His first catch with the Patriots came from backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, while his initial target came from Brady. Head coach Bill Belichick sees positive things from Floyd so far.
“It was good to get him out there,” Belichick said. “He’s had three practices with us. (He gets) better each day, so you know, he had a chance out there to play some, to hear the calls. Hopefully, that’ll be better this week and we’ll just see how it goes. I’d say we’re going in the right direction but we’ve got a long way to go.”
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
