Meyers’ old coach knew Pats’ receiver would excel
Stanley Pritchett should have known.
Jakobi Meyers' high school football coach should have known who made that unlikely pass.
Pritchett was in bed, watching Sunday night's game between the Patriots and Ravens on his iPad when suddenly, everybody was calling him.
Pritchett is the football coach at Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, Georgia, where he once coached Meyers. And now that Meyers is a wide receiver with the Patriots, Pritchett tries to catch as many of his former player's games as he can.
And he was certainly watching when Meyers made the play of the night on Sunday, completing a double- pass trick play with a perfect touchdown throw to Rex Burkhead that put the Patriots ahead in their win over the Ravens.
"I said, ' Wow, that was a great play,'" Pritchett said. "Then my phone started blowing up. People started calling me from all over."
That's when Pritchett realized what happened. Initially, the coach actually didn't know that it was Meyers who made the pass.
"I was half paying attention and I was like, ' Man, that was a great throw,' Pritchett said. "And then I was like, it looked like a receiver that threw the ball. And then they said it was Jakobi Meyers and I was like, 'Lord, I should have known.'
"I mean, he put it right on, he dropped it in the bucket. It was a great throw."
In the middle of taking texts and calls about the play from other coaches, old booster club members and others, Pritchett, enjoying his brief blast from the past, made sure to send a note to Meyers.
"I texted him and I said, 'Just like old times,'" Pritchett said.
Just like old times, indeed.
Before emerging as Cam Newton's favorite target with the Patriots, Meyers was, of course, a high school quarterback for Pritchett, and one of the best in Georgia as a dual threat. His junior and senior years at Arabia HS, Meyers threw for 3,434 yards and 38 TDs, adding another 959 yards and 14 scores rushing. But after committing to North Carolina State as a quarterback, he was moved to wide receiver, which ultimately set his path to the NFL.
When Meyers made his first NFL pass on Sunday night, though, his former coach saw a player who didn't miss a beat.
"It was the same old Jakobi," Pritchett said. "Actually, he was on the run, so it was kind of a hard throw to make, how he made it, because I think he came back on the reverse, and he came back and he kind of threw it off one leg, so him to be able to do that, that shows his athletic ability."
It's that athletic ability Pritchett knows so well that's allowed Meyers to have so much success in his transition as a wide receiver. After getting inconsistent opportunities as an undrafted rookie in 2019, Meyers has been a spark for the Patriots' passing game of late. He broke out with a 12- catch, 169- yard performance against the Jets.
Pritchett isn't surprised at all. In high school, he remembers Meyers always lobbying him to get some looks at receiver. Aside from a few double-pass trick plays that allowed Meyers to catch a few balls, Pritchett never gave in, knowing his team needed Meyers at quarterback.
"He was always like, 'Coach, can I play receiver this week?' I was like, ' Man, get out of here, sit down,'" Pritchett said. "I knew he was always a great athlete, and I know he's a competitor. He loves to compete, and he doesn't like to lose and that was one of the things I knew was going to be great about him. When he switched positions, I knew it was going to be tough, but he would be the one that would pick it up and learn it.
"I think he's just destined for greatness," Pritchett continued. "Sometimes you know about a kid, like this kid's going to make it with whatever he does, whatever he decides to do, he's going to be great at it. And that's the kind of kid Jakobi is, and I've always told people that. I told his mom that, his dad. I mean, I tell everybody I talk to. I was just always sure that he was destined for greatness. I don't know why I felt it, but it's just what I felt."
The transition wasn't always easy for Meyers. Though he wanted to play some snaps at receiver in high school, he was initially upset that NC State wanted to move him away from quarterback.
But a phone call with Pritchett helped put him at ease. Pritchett played nine seasons in the NFL, including four with the Dolphins, as a fullback, and he drew from his own experience to put Meyers in the right state of mind. He hasn't really looked back since.
"I remember he called me and was kind of disappointed about it," Pritchett said of when Meyers was moved from quarterback to receiver. "You know how kids, teenagers are nowadays, they get disappointed, they don't want to move. He thought he was going to be an NFL quarterback, which I thought he even would be.
"But I told him that I went through the same experience when I was in college. I was a tight end coming from high school and when I got to college, they moved me to fullback. I told him, I said, 'Look man, I ended up going on to have a nine-year NFL career.' Sometimes, change is good. You just have to embrace it and work hard at learning the craft of it. That's what he did and he just went to work and it's been working out for him."