Patriots Wideout Not Concerned By This Glaring Deficiency

FOXBORO, Mass. — K.J. Osborn was one of two Patriots wide receivers to catch a pass during New England’s 23-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

New England wideouts combined to catch three passes on five targets for 19 yards — yes, you read that correctly. It was a major talking point to surface after the Patriots defeat at Gillette Stadium.

Osborn wasn’t too concerned with the lack of production from the group, however. He said the stat sheet spoke more about New England’s game plan than the Seahawks’ defense.

“I wouldn’t really say it was tougher for us to be productive because of what they were doing,” Osborn said after the home opener at Gillette Stadium. “I think the run game was going. It wasn’t like they had a bunch of PBUs (pass break ups) or anything like that. I think we played a really good game, there were just four or five plays that flipped the direction of the game, the outcome of the game.”

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New England’s offense did find success on the ground, especially in the second half. Patriots running backs Rhamondre Stevenson (21 carries, 81 yards) and Antonio Gibson (11 carries, 96 yards) led the way to 185 yards rushing on 5.1 yards per carry.

And in the first half the Patriots moved the ball when Jacoby Brissett targeted tight end Hunter Henry. Henry recorded seven of his eight catches and 98 of his career-best 109 yards before the intermission. Each of Henry’s first five receptions were first downs.

That also played a role in the lack of wide receiver production, Osborn said.

“Obviously I’m not the play-caller, but Hunt (Hunter Henry), I’m not sure what he finished with, but if we see that matchup we were able to exploit it. That’s great for us,” Osborn said. “Like I said earlier in the week, the plan here is to follow the North Star and that’s winning. So if it’s going to (Henry), we cool with it. At the end of the day, we got to do what we got to do to win and we weren’t able to do that.”

Osborn’s sentiments are understandable to a degree. New England’s offense did find ways to move the ball and were one defensive stand away from a Week 2 victory. But the fact Osborn (one catch, seven yards) and Ja’Lynn Polk (two catches, 12 yards, touchdown) were responsible for the only production from the group is eye-popping. DeMario Douglas did not register a target.

In fairness to the wideouts, it’s not all on them. There were times Sunday when it appeared the receivers failed to get open for Brissett, but there were others when Brissett didn’t have the time behind center to let routes develop. He was under pressure a lot. Those two aspects of New England’s passing game go hand in hand.

Regardless of which is to blame, the production from receiver room is something that will need to change should the Patriots want to remain competitive.

They’ll have the chance to do so against the New York Jets on Thursday night.