On the list of adjectives that can be used to describe Jakobi Meyers, “tough” should be near the top.
The Patriots receiver battled through multiple injuries this season, eventually finishing with 67 catches for 804 yards and six touchdowns. In a season loaded with dramatic lows for New England’s offense, Meyers yet again was a shining bright spot. And now we know a bit more about what he dealt with in 2022.
During the Week 2 road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Meyers suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss the next two games. He returned in Week 5 and missed just one game the rest of the way (concussion) although he clearly was bothered by a shoulder injury toward the end of the campaign.
In a wide-ranging piece published Thursday morning, the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan and Karen Guregian offered fascinating insight into the unprecedented dysfunction created by Bill Belichick’s coaching decisions. The column also includes new information on Meyers’ knee injury, as well as additional details on the health of running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who battled through an ankle ailment late in the season.
Here’s an excerpt:
Eventually, the players returned, pulled away from a bad Cardinals team, face-planted in Las Vegas and dropped two of their last three. The offense rode wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and Rhamondre Stevenson into the ground.
Meyers, who according to sources played through a small tear in his knee midseason, finished as the team’s leading receiver for a third straight year. Stevenson totaled 156 more touches than the next closest skill-position player, an unprecedented gap under Belichick.
“He wore down,” one source said of Stevenson, “and he was hurt more than he let on.”
Meyers, undrafted in 2019, has established himself as the most productive and reliable receiver in the Patriots offense. He also is an emerging leader in the locker room and has a close off-field relationship with quarterback Mac Jones.
For those reasons and many more, New England should do what it takes to re-sign the 26-year-old in free agency this offseason.
