FOXBORO, Mass. — It should come as absolutely no surprise that a New England Patriots wide receiver was asked about learning the team’s complex offense days after being acquired.
It takes a special player to learn and acclimate to the Patriots’ complex offense quickly. And it takes a special approach. Getting overwhelmed is out of the question. So is taking it in stride.
Phillip Dorsett, who was acquired in a trade with the Colts that sent quarterback Jacoby Brissett to Indianapolis, seems to be taking the right one.
“I think I’m a pretty smart guy,” Dorsett, a 2015 first-round draft pick, said Tuesday. “Of course they’re going to throw a lot at you at first, but I’m just in. You gotta be in it. I go back to the hotel, and I just study as much as I can until I get tired. Then I try to study more. At the end of the day, I think it will be worth it.”
And though the Patriots’ playbook probably is more substantial than most, it’s not as if New England’s system is completely foreign. The Patriots run the Erhardt-Perkins offense, which is based on play concepts. There are a handful of teams around the NFL that run similar systems, though Dorsett didn’t play in one with the Colts.
“I never get frustrated with it, because at the end of the day it’s football,” Dorsett said. “It’s all concepts. If you played football and understand playbooks, then you just gotta put things together. I don’t get frustrated with it, because it’s going to take time. I know that. I’m not going to pick it up all that fast.”
It seems the Patriots aren’t going to count on Dorsett to return punts, something he did with the Colts and in college at Miami, at least not right away. He would only say he’d do it if asked to.
“I always catch punts just to do it, because it’s fun,” Dorsett said.
That likely means Danny Amendola will be the Patriots’ punt returner for the time being. If the Patriots decide it’s too much of a risk to use him in the role, they could always try Dorsett or acquire a player to man the role.
Thumbnail photo via Thumbnail photo via Doug Kyed/NESN
