Patriots Hope For These Improvements From Inconsistent Wideout

New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk showed flashes during the preseason, but has struggled with consistency six weeks into the campaign.

Polk officially was credited with one drop in New England’s loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. The second-rounder got his hands on another ball from Drake Maye that fell incomplete, though. If counting that as a drop, Polk has three on 23 targets this season. He dropped passes in each of the last two losses.

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo pointed it to as a key area for improvement.

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“I think he just needs to get over this mental hump,” Mayo told reporters during a video conference Monday, per a team-provided video. “You’ve got to eliminate the dropped passes. You’ve got to be better at blocking, which he did a great job in college at that and at times throughout the season. He just has to continue to grow, and he has to work harder. He has to pay more attention to the details.”

Mayo’s critiques are noteworthy, especially when it comes to references to hard work and attention to detail. The first-year head coach doesn’t seem concerned about the long-term, however.

“We fully expect him to grow into a receiver that’s dependable on run and pass downs,” Mayo said of Polk.

The Patriots made changes to their wide receiver depth chart with Kendrick Bourne’s return and Kayshon Boutte’s emergence. Tyquan Thornton, who started Week 1, was a healthy scratch against the Texans while K.J. Osborn was active but didn’t play. Fourth-round rookie Javon Baker has been a healthy scratch three times.

It’s certainly not time to sound the alarms on Polk, but he’ll have to improve in the areas Mayo mentioned should he want to continue to see playing time.