Bill Belichick Thoroughly Explains How Braxton Berrios Has Improved

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was in-depth but concise in his assessment of Braxton Berrios after Thursday night’s preseason opener.

Berrios caught three passes for 45 yards, including a fourth-down conversion in the Patriots’ 31-3 preseason win over the Detroit Lions. He also returned four punts for 35 yards.

Belichick seems to think Berrios, who did all of his work out of the slot Thursday night, has his route-running skills down. It’s everything else the 2018 sixth-round pick has needed to work on after spending all of last season on injured reserve.

“I think his improvement has come from his training, understanding the offense, and timing work with the quarterbacks,” Belichick said Friday morning. “Those are things that he didn’t have as much of an opportunity to do last year, especially early in the season, in training camp, and then, later on, he was able to train more. But, he still wasn’t able to work with the team, so this year he’s been able to do all of those and there’s no question that that’s helped him, and helped our team.”

Berrios is in a competition with fellow wideouts Ryan Davis, Phillip Dorsett, Maurice Harris, Dontrelle Inman, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, Damoun Patterson, Demaryius Thomas and Cameron Meredith for what could be just three spots on the 53-man roster. Meyers set himself apart Thursday night with six catches for 69 yards with two touchdowns, but Berrios finished second on the team in receptions and yards.

Roster cuts are going to be difficult in some areas for the Patriots on Aug. 31.