That’s why I said I’m wondering if there are things happening in practice that would cause Brady to lose trust in them.
And it may be something completely unrelated to who Brady does or doesn't trust.
Honestly, I'm puzzled about what McD and Brady are attempting to accomplish with Gordon. His 53% catch rate is unusually poor for a guy who's in the Pats top-3 in tgts/game. The top-4 are all typically at 60% or over. Cooks' 57% was a departure last season, but then his catch rates in his prior career with the Sainst had been 77%, 65%, 67% (and he's at 71% with the Rams this season).
However, a low catch rate is not at all unusual for Gordon. What we're seeing from him this season is what he's typically provided:
2018: 7 games .. 53% CR .. 3.7 rec/gm .. 18.3 YPC
2017: 5 games .. 43% CR .. 3.6 rec/gm .. 18.6 YPC
2014: 5 games .. 51% CR .. 4.8 rec/gm .. 12.6 YPC
2013: 14 gms ... 55% CR .. 6.2 rec/gm .. 18.9 YPC
2012: 16 gms ... 52% CR .. 3.1 rec/gm .. 16.1 YPC
I mean, maybe he saw a lot of targets the last two games (despite his catch rate) in some kind of attempt to compensate for Gronk's absence. And I get that "deep threats" around the league often have similarly low catch rates (although Gronk and Hogan have produced much better catch rates at a similar YPC). But still, force-feeding Gordon seems like they're trying to make him into something he's not and has never been.