There have been plenty of fans here in New England doubting the Patriots receiving group, which has included second-year receiver, Jakobi Meyers.
Meyers wasn’t featured in the Patriots offense a year ago and struggled to build chemistry with then-quarterback Tom Brady. After a strong preseason, 2019 likely didn’t quite end up going like he hoped and 2020 didn’t start off quite as well either. Up until Monday night, he hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time and it wasn’t until injuries happened with both N’Keal Harry and Julian Edelman that Meyers was able to see more snaps.
Behind the scenes, Meyers has clearly been growing as a player and it sounds like he’s had quarterback Cam Newton encouraging him. The two have bonded well together this season and it’s clearly made a difference. Newton spoke to WEEI on Monday and said that he’s known Meyers since he was younger and that he’s been trying to motivate him this season. However, Newton said, that while he’s had faith that Meyers would break through, it takes Meyers believing it as well.
“He’s just such a humble person and that can be his gift and his curse. I had a conversation with Jakobi and I’ve said it before, I’ve known Jakobi since he was 16-years old. And the fact that we’re on the same NFL team is neat,” said Newton. “What happened at North Carolina State with him transitioning positions from quarterback to receiver, I know him playing quarterback for so long, he has an instinct and a knack to know how to get open, to know what the quarterback is thinking.”
“I had a conversation with him a couple of weeks ago just saying like, ‘Bro, I believe in you. You know what I’m saying? I don’t think you believe enough in you to know that you can play this game at a high level.'”
Meyers certainly came up big on Monday night, finishing with 12 receptions off of 14 targets for 169-yards and was instrumental during the Patriots come-from-behind win over the Jets on Monday night.
As for Newton, he’s not surprised. He feels like Meyers is just getting started, and the rest of the league needs to pay attention.
“We’ve all seen, when given an opportunity, what he can do,” said Newton. “But yet, he’s just showing up and proving who and what he can be for this offense and putting this league on notice.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
