Big job for Hoyer
Backup QB has to portray KC’s Mahomes
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
FOXBORO — This must be a stressful few days for Bill Belichick, Brian Flores and the Patriots coaches in charge of devising a gameplan to slow down Kansas City’s juggernaut offense.
It seems like a pretty sweet week for Brian Hoyer, though.
Hoyer gets to play the role of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in practice.
“When you see some of the throws he makes, it kind of gives me the green light for any throw I want to make and maybe fit a ball in somewhere,” Hoyer said. “It’s always fun for me to emulate a different offense, whether it’s read-option, RPOs, whatever it might be. It’s always an opportunity for me to get better as a quarterback.”
Hoyer admittedly can’t quite match Mahomes’ arm strength.
“Just like everybody else, I watch the Sunday night highlights and I remember the throw he made to (Travis) Kelce against Pittsburgh,” Hoyer said. “It basically knocked Kelce down. It was incredible. So, I mean, if you’re a football fan, you know a lot of the guys. And everything you’ve ever heard about Patrick Mahomes is his arm strength, and he’s definitely proven that this year.”
Mahomes’ mobility is difficult to replicate, too. He’s an adept scrambler who regularly makes plays outside the structure of the Kansas City offense.
One example: On a thirdand-goal from the San Francisco 4-yard line in Week 3, Mahomes sensed pressure and ran in the wrong direction, turning his back to the play as he retreated to the 24-yard line. He then started running across the field as Niners defensive end Cassius Marsh chased him. Mahomes let it rip when he reached the 19-yard line, firing a strike to Chris Conley in the corner of the end zone.
There’s not much Hoyer can do to simulate that.
Injury report
All Patriots practiced yesterday, but nine players were limited. Four players — running back Sony Michel (knee), wide receiver Chris Hogan (thigh), defensive tackle Malcom Brown (knee) and defensive end John Simon (shoulder) — were new additions.
Brown and Simon were both injured during the Thursday night win over the Colts. Neither returned to the game, but their participation in practice is an encouraging sign.
Michel is back on the injury report after fully participating in practice during Weeks 4 and 5. He suffered a knee injury in the preseason.
Hogan played 91 percent of the snaps versus the Colts.
Other players that were limited: Tight end Rob Gronkowski (ankle), cornerback Eric Rowe (groin), defensive tackle Danny Shelton (elbow), wide receiver Josh Gordon (hamstring) and defensive end Geneo Grissom (ankle).
Rowe has missed three consecutive games.
Carrying the load
Michel has carried the ball 43 times the past two games, establishing himself as the team’s clear-cut No.1 runner.
With pass-catching specialist James White and Kenjon Barner serving as the other backs, Michel figures to shoulder the load going forward. This is a slight adjustment for Michel, who carried the ball 20-plus times just once in his last two seasons at Georgia.
While he hasn’t yet contributed much in the passing game, Michel expects to make a mark in that area.
“I did it quite a bit at Georgia,” Michel said. “Just different roles.”
Michel has shown noticeable improvement from week to week.
“I have confidence because I’m learning so much,” Michel said. “Every day there’s always something I can learn from. Every day I walk out of the building like ‘damn, I didn’t know that yesterday.’ ”
Trading buddies
Now that they’re competitors in the AFC, Belichick and Andy Reid haven’t made many trades. But when Reid was in Philadelphia, the two coaches loved swapping players and picks.
Amazingly, the Pats and Eagles engaged in draft-day trades every year from 20002012, Reid’s final season in Philadelphia.
“I can’t remember which was the first, but we would talk during the draft,” Reid said on a conference call. “There’s a little bit of dead time during the draft, so we shoot the breeze during the draft and we start coming up with these trade things and I don’t remember — some of them were kind of silly just to get the trade done so we kept the streak going.”
Case in point: In 2011, the Patriots traded the No. 193 pick to the Eagles for the No. 194 selection.