Summer is supposed to be a time for NFL quarterbacks to develop a rapport with their wide receivers. But for this year’s New England Patriots, that wasn’t really an option.
Two of the Patriots’ projected top three receivers — Josh Gordon and Demaryius Thomas — missed all of training camp and most of the preseason due to suspension and injury, respectively. Two other members of New England’s receiving corps — Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski — are undrafted rookies who have yet to catch a pass from Brady in a game setting.
Mainstays Julian Edelman and Phillip Dorsett will provide some level of comfort for the 42-year-old QB, but Brady is realistic in his view of the team’s current wideout group:
While its ceiling is high, this unit still needs a lot of work.
“Our group has been formulated, and not many of the guys have been out there that long,” Brady said Tuesday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “I have, obviously, a lot of experience with Julian. I have a lot of experience with Phil. I have some experience with Josh, very limited experience with Demaryius, N’Keal (Harry, who will begin the season on injured reserve), Jakobi and Gunner.
“It’s one thing to predict how it’s going to go. It’s another for you to actually go out there and do it. And I think we’re going to try to put as much work as we can in from now until the end of the season in order for us to be at our best. So we’re not a finished product. We won’t be that way for a long time. But we’re going to try to build every single day.”
The Patriots placed Harry, who hasn’t played since the preseason opener, on IR over the weekend with the hope of activating him midseason. Their six remaining wideouts appear healthy and should be available for Sunday’s Week 1 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But head coach Bill Belichick, like Brady, isn’t expecting New England’s passing operation to run seamlessly right from the start.
“I wish we could just wave a wand and all of that would happen,” Belichick said Tuesday on a conference call. “But unfortunately, I don’t really see how that would happen. We’ll have to do whatever everyone that’s been here for a number of weeks has been doing — go out there and get the reps together and get our timing and develop that consistency and continuity and confidence on the field.
“I don’t know how to create that by just, like I said, wishing it or talking about it. At some point, you’ve got to be able to go out there and be able to execute it. We’ve done some of it. We’ll do more. We’ll continue to do more, and we’ll see where we’re at.”
As the rest of the wideouts acclimate — or, in Gordon’s case — reacclimate, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Brady rely heavily on Edelman, Dorsett and running backs James White and Rex Burkhead during the early portion of the season.
The Patriots also are introducing an entirely new tight end group, with Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse replacing Rob Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen and Jacob Hollister. (Ben Watson and Lance Kendricks will be eligible to return after serving four- and one-game suspensions, respectively.)
“(Every) opportunity that we have to get better and communicate, that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Brady said on WEEI. “It’s just like everything else: the more you do it, the more you’re together, the more you can anticipate, the more you can have confidence and trust in one another. That’s what we’re trying to get to.”
