New England had just four wide receivers on the game day roster.
After injuries last week to Kendrick Bourne and DeVante Parker, the New England Patriots depth at wide receiver was set to be tested against the Washington Commanders.
Without their top two receivers in terms of snaps, New England entered Sunday with wide receivers Jalen Reagor, Tyquan Thornton, Demario Douglas, and JuJu Smith-Schuster on the game day roster. It marked another game where there was a lack of continuity at the position, and another game with not-so great results.
“That’s a great point,” Mac Jones said when asked about season-long personnel changes. “It’s just a lot of different guys each week, but at the same time we have a great standard that we set. It’s just trying to go do it every play. I think there’s guys out there who can make the plays and it’s my job to get the ball to them.
“I have a lot of confidence in Jalen [Reagor], Tyquan [Thornton], Pop [Demario Douglas], Hunter [Henry], Mike [Gesicki], JuJu [Smith-Schuster], all those guys. Obviously DP [DeVante Parker] wasn’t there today. The whole group is very much so close together and they work really hard. It’s not like we’re not on the same page. We’re really close. We’re right there. We’re just a little bit short.”
New England’s four active receivers was quickly diminished to three, as Tyquan Thornton did not see a snap after a poor route on their third offensive drive of the day. The 2022 second-round pick explained that the foot injury that he suffered on Friday was the reason for his limited snaps.
“Definitely injury-related,” Thornton said post game. “Definitely impacted me today. Definitely on me, I got to be better on my end.”
Without Thornton, the Patriots played over 80 percent of their snaps in 12 personnel. That led to an increased role for tight end Mike Gesicki, who played a season-high in snaps taking on a wide receiver role. Despite the increased playing time, Gesicki finished catchless.
“We activated the other four receivers and Mike [Gesicki]. I mean, really Mike is our fifth receiver,” Bill Belichick said post game. “He played a lot.”
As for the receivers, New England again relied heavily on rookie Pop Douglas. The dynamic receiver led the group in snaps and receiving yards (55), while also tying a team-high seven targets.
“[Just] playing my role,” Douglas explained. “Coming in and doing what I have to do. Whatever that is I’m going to do it to my full potential.”
But beyond the rookie, the production was not there from the receiving group. Speedster Jalen Reagor saw the second most amount of receiver snaps but managed just one catch on six targets — letting one fall through his hands deep down the field.
The veteran Smith-Schuster occasionally rotated in behind the top pair and had his best statical game of the season with six catches for 51 yards, before the final pass of the game bounced off his hands for an interception.
Beyond the lack of statical production, the unit continued to struggle to get open for quarterback Mac Jones — leading to Jones throwing nearly 30 percent of his passes into tight windows (a career-high). It’s been a troublesome trend for New England all year, that other teams — like Washington on Sunday — don’t face weekly.
“It’s hard to compare to other people, other teams,” Jones said when asked about other quarterbacks have bigger passing windows. “We have a standard here. At the end of the day, we need to meet that standard and execute as best we can for me as a quarterback and all that stuff.
“That’s a great point but at the same time we’re always going to focus on us and what we can do better and the things we need to improve, what I need to improve and all that stuff. But, yeah, that’s a good question.”
With a limited number of healthy bodies at a position that’s struggled this year for New England, many thought this would be the week rookie Kayshon Boutte worked his way back into the lineup.
Boutte has not played since the Week 1 game against Philadelphia, but Bill Belichick explained on Friday that the rookie had his “best week” of practice. That still resulted in Boutte being a healthy inactive yet again.
“We activated the players that we felt were the best players to put in the game,” Belichick explained post game.
At 2-7, there will be no in-season fix to the Patriots woes at wide receiver. Which means it’s up to the quarterback and those on the roster to remain confident to try and find a solution.
“I think the biggest thing is remaining confident in yourself,” Jones added. “When you do everything you can every day, you should have no regrets. I have no regrets. I do need to do things better, but I’m always going to work hard and put in the hours. That’s all I can do, right? Motivate people around me to do it, as well. I’m always going to be the same person. Obviously, like you said, the results aren’t there right now. It stinks. There’s no excuses.”