FOXBORO, Mass. — After the confetti settled following Super Bowl LIII, New England Patriots running back James White mapped out a few goals he’d like to achieve in the offseason.
Among them: Make sure even his soon-to-be 42-year-old quarterback, Tom Brady, doesn’t know the Patriots’ offense better than he does.
“To me, it’s always improving on everything,” White said Thursday at Gillette Stadium. “It’s improving on things that you’re good at, improving on your weaknesses. It’s always catching, always running routes, blocking, learning the offense as a whole.
“I try to learn as much of the offense as Tom knows so when he’s making a check or something like that, I understand what we’re trying to get done.”
The 2018 season easily was the most productive of White’s five-year Patriots career. He shattered his previous career highs in nearly every statistical category, catching 87 passes for 751 yards and seven touchdowns while carrying the ball 94 times for 425 yards and five scores.
At the season’s midway point, White was on pace to break Matt Forte’s single-season record for receptions by a running back (102). His effectiveness waned over the final seven games of the regular season, but he rebounded with a historic performance in the divisional round, tying the all-position NFL record for catches in a playoff game with 15 for 97 yards in a blowout win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Despite this highly successful campaign — which culminated in White’s third Super Bowl title — the 27-year-old remains focused on improvement.
“Even though you have some success, there’s still plenty of mistakes that you make out there,” White said. “So there’s always room for improvement, always ways to get better, always more yards to get. So you get in with the coaches, see what you can improve and find ways to get better.
“Whether it’s running better routes, having no drops or having better run reads, there’s always a little bit of things you can improve on.”
