With Brady, Patriots can endure changes
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Matthew Slater has heard it all before, again and again, for the last nine offseasons.
“Ever since Randy (Moss) left here,” the 11th-year Patriots wide receiver and special teams ace told USA TODAY during a quiet moment in front of his locker, “I feel like the story has been the same: We’re not good enough; we don’t have enough pieces. We just kind of brush that aside.”
Slater chuckled and rolled his eyes at the recurring theme. And then he explained why he’s never surprised that regardless of the lack of star power, someone from the New England wide receiver unit always emerges as a go-to for quarterback Tom Brady.
The two reasons were simple: hard work and, of course, Tom Brady.
Sunday in their season-opening 2720 win over the Texans, Slater’s young teammate Phillip Dorsett filled that goto role for Brady and Company, recording seven catches for 66 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.
It served as quite the season debut for the fourth-year player, who was traded to New England just before the start of last season and had just 12 receptions for 194 yards and no touchdowns in 2017. But the performance didn’t at all come as a surprise to Slater, coach Bill Belichick or anyone else in the locker room.
Dorsett spent the offseason putting in extra time to learn the offense and work on his pass-catching skills. He logged additional minutes catching passes from Brady after the mandatory offseason sessions the quarterback attended and following training camp practices.
So despite all the comings and goings at wide receiver this offseason (Brandin Cooks was traded, Danny Amendola signed with the Dolphins, Julian Edelman was suspended, Jordan Matthews and Kenny Britt were cut and Eric Decker retired), Dorsett always felt ready.
“Tom plays a big role in instilling confidence in guys,” Slater explained. “Guys buy in, and Phil has definitely been a guy that’s bought in, and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”
Brady validated Slater’s assessment a short time later as he spoke from the podium.
“It’s kind of what (Dorsett) has been doing all camp, all spring, and it was good to see it show up today. … If you’re out there, I trust you, the coaches trust you, the team trusts you,” said Brady, who finished the game with 26 completions on 39 throws for 277 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. “That’s why we’re putting you out there. So guys that usually we don’t trust don’t get much opportunity out there. So Phillip did a great job with his opportunity today.”
Reporters swarmed Dorsett at his locker to get his reaction to his performance. He repeatedly dismissed the notion that Sunday served as his coming out party. The Patriots offense is so diverse, he explained.
“This is a really complex offense. It’s always changing. Something that’s your role today, you might not have tomorrow,” he said. “We game-plan a certain way, and you never know what’s going to be in it. It’s always changing. So you study. That’s all it is. Keep learning and studying and that’s how you execute.”
Dorsett was right on that. The Patriots’ skill-position players’ roles change with as much frequency as their many formations, and none of them know when the offense will feature them. For example, seven other players caught passes from Brady on Sunday. Among that group: fullback James Develin, who had four catches for 22 yards despite having just six receptions all of last season.
“They move people around so much,” Houston safety Tyrann Mathieu explained. “So it’ll be a different formation, but it’ll be the same play. You have to work to stay in-tune with that. … That’s what they do; that’s what they’ve always done. They always play nextman-up ball. We have to be conscious of that next time we see them because they can do that: come out here with three wide receivers and run the ball and accomplish just what they want.”
Of course, Brady did have one mainstay: tight end Rob Gronkowski, who recorded seven catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. It was his 31st 100-yard game, and his touchdown catch represented the 76th scoring connection between Gronkowski and Brady (fifth most in history, and the second most between a quarterback and tight end).
Brady’s trust in Gronkowski was evident, as the quarterback repeatedly targeted the tight end despite double coverage.
“I saw the ball in the air (on one such play) and thought, ‘What is Tom thinking?’ ” Gronkowski admitted at the podium. “I had two guys on me, one guy grabbing on me, but I just had to do what I could to make the catch and I did make the catch. ...
“It’s a lot of practice, no doubt. A lot of practice, and it’s never letting up. A lot of consistency on the practice field, doing it every week, doing it the offseason, doing it in camp. You can’t just get on a page like that. You’ve got to put work and time in, and that’s what we do.”
Belichick was his typical stoic self when asked about Dorsett’s big day, Brady and Gronk’s connection and how the offense executed well against a tough defense like Houston’s.
Dorsett works hard, as is the expectation, and Belichick nonchalantly described Brady and his tight end as “two great players.”
But it all boils down to one thing: Regardless of the pedigree of the pass catchers, the Patriots have Brady. Thus, they always have a chance.