Why Demario Douglas’ Quiet Debut Was Good Sign For Patriots Rookie

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The Patriots' top receiving trio of JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne got to kick back and relax during New England's preseason opener.

Demario Douglas wasn't at that level. But he wasn't far behind.

The training camp sensation did play in Thursday night's exhibition game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium, but only barely. Douglas was on the field for just two offensive snaps in the Patriots' 20-9 loss. He also played one snap on special teams, fair-catching Houston's first punt.

When a team holds a healthy player out of its first preseason game, that typically means it expects him to have a real role in the upcoming season. For context, here were the non-injured Patriots who dressed but did not play Thursday night:

QB Mac Jones
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR DeVante Parker
WR Kendrick Bourne
RB Rhamondre Stevenson
TE Hunter Henry
TE Mike Gesicki
OT Trent Brown
OT Riley Reiff
C David Andrews
DL Davon Godchaux
DL Lawrence Guy
DL Christian Barmore
DL Deatrich Wise
LB Ja'Whaun Bentley
OLB Matthew Judon
OLB Josh Uche
DB Marcus Jones
DB Kyle Dugger
DB Adrian Phillips
DB Jabrill Peppers
ST Matthew Slater

Douglas being on the cusp of that group as a sixth-round rookie was a promising sign for the young slot receiver, especially when you compare his workload to those of his peers.

Second-year wideout Tyquan Thornton played 14 offensive snaps against the Texans, staying in the game into the second quarter. Fellow 2023 draftee Kayshon Boutte, who started the game alongside Douglas, logged 32 snaps. The rest went to Tre Nixon, Raleigh Webb, Thyrick Pitts and Malik Cunningham, before he switched over to quarterback and led a late touchdown drive.

Those totals suggest Douglas is ahead of both Thornton and Boutte in the Patriots' pass-catcher pecking order, which also was clear during recent practices. The undersized Liberty product flashed on a near-daily basis during the first 2 1/2 weeks of camp, impressing with his route-running ability, sure hands and unexpected physicality.

"The play time is kind of based on how the practices have gone," head coach Bill Belichick said after the game. "So guys that have gotten more work in practice got less time in the game. Guys that got less work in practice got more time in the game so we could evaluate everybody."

Thornton, who badly needs a solid preseason after an underwhelming camp, finished with two catches for a team-high 31 yards, including an acrobatic 27-yarder on the Patriots' second drive. Boutte had two catches for 7 yards in a messy game for New England's offense as a whole.