Before Rhamondre Stevenson's rookie season, then-position coach Ivan Fears said the New England Patriots running back needed to improve "everything" about his game.
Safe to say he's accomplished that.
One day after Stevenson rampaged for a career-high 161 yards on 25 carries in a 29-0 romp over the Detroit Lions, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spoke in downright glowing terms about his budding backfield star.
Asked how much confidence he has in Stevenson to be a complete, three-down back for New England, Belichick replied: "As much confidence as you could possibly have, that's how much we have."
"Every player on the team, every coach on the team has total confidence in Rhamondre to do whatever it is we need him to do," Belichick, who also raved about Stevenson in his postgame news conference, said on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show." "Catch the ball, pick up the blitz, run the ball, inside, outside, break tackles, short yardage, make explosive plays. He's improved so much in these 20 games, whatever, since he's been in the league. His ball security is good. His running skills are good. His blitz pickup is good. His pass routes are good. But they've all improved a lot.
"This kid's really worked hard to make himself a good player. He's a talented player, but he's put in a lot of extra work and understands what he needs to do to be effective in all those situations, and he's worked hard to perfect his techniques and craft to do that."
Stevenson and his coaches have talked openly about his rough start in New England, which included a lost fumble and a blown blitz pickup in the 2021 opener that got him exiled to the inactive list for most of the first half of his rookie season. The fourth-round draft pick eventually emerged as one of the NFL's top rookie ball-carriers, and after improving his conditioning and route-runing during the offseason, he's taken on an expanded role in Year 2.
Though Damien Harris has started all five games this season, Stevenson has outsnapped him in each of the last four, assuming the bulk of Ty Montgomery's passing-down responsibilities since New England's James White replacement landed on injured reserve after Week 1. With Harris logging just six snaps against Detroit before leaving with a hamstring injury, Stevenson was a workhorse, playing 54 of a possible 60 snaps (a career-high 90%) for a Patriots team that chose to dress just two running backs.
And Stevenson could take on an even more prominent role moving forward if Harris' injury causes him to miss time. Belichick announced Monday that Montgomery will not return from IR ahead of this Sunday's matchup with the Cleveland Browns, and the Patriots' reserve backs (Pierre Strong and practice squadders J.J. Taylor and Kevin Harris) all are largely unproven at the NFL level. Rookies Strong and Harris weren't especially impressive during training camp and the preseason, and Taylor -- a strong candidate for a gameday elevation if Harris can't go -- averaged just 1.9 yards per attempt on 19 carries last season.
Though their depth might be tested, the Patriots clearly have faith in Stevenson to carry the load. The Oklahoma product had his breakout game agianst Cleveland last season, rushing for 100 yards and two touchdowns with Harris out injured.
"I give him a ton of credit," Belichick said on WEEI. "This kid's come a long way from the blitz pickup (against) Miami last year in the opener, ball security in the early part of the season last year, route-running. All those things, he's worked hard at, and you can see the results. And I think everybody involved in this organization that's observed that recognizes that a lot of his production and performance on the field is the result of his hard work and dedication to doing well in those situations.
"It just didn't happen. He's worked at it and improved it. Everybody, I'm sure, has a ton of confidence and respect for him."
