Prior to the season it appeared Demaryius Thomas would become an important part of the New England Patriots offense, but such a reality never materialized.
New England signed the veteran wide receiver in the offseason, and he spent the beginning of camp rehabbing an Achilles injury suffered in December during his brief stint with the Houston Texans. Thomas surprisingly was released on cutdown day, but promptly re-signed a couple days later, only to be traded to the New York Jets shortly thereafter to make room for Antonio Brown.
In a conversation with the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta, Thomas candidly opened up about his departure from the Patriots.
“It was insulting, for sure,” Thomas said. “Once I got cut, I could have just come here (to the Jets) and not stayed there and re-sign. When they re-signed me, I was thinking that I was good. Two weeks later, I was gone. So, it’s like, ‘Why did I waste my time?’ Because at the end of the day, it was kind of a waste of time for me.
“They took a chance to bring me in and helped me get healthy,” Thomas later added. “I always knew I was going to be able to still play … and it would have worked out because I was still learning their offense. Josh McDaniels drafted me. So, I felt like I was cool. But even having conversations with him and couple other people, it was like, ‘You’re going to be okay.’ Two weeks later, AB gets cut … and then they kicked me (to the curb) and shipped me out like I’m just a rookie.”
These comments come just in time for the Patriots and Jets’ second and final matchup of the regular season, which will be Monday night at MetLife Stadium.
