It had obviously been a while since we had seen Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers on the field and his presence definitely made an impact Sunday.
The shifty receiver had been sidelined the previous two games with a knee injury, which he reportedly suffered during training camp. He played in each of the team’s first two games but hadn’t seen the field since New England’s Week two win in Pittsburgh where he caught 9 passes for 95-yards.
But after finally getting back out on the field Sunday in front of the home crowd at Gillette Stadium, Meyers gave the offense a much-needed boost. He finished Sunday’s 29-0 blowout of the Lions with 7 receptions on 8 targets for 111-yards along with a touchdown.
While making his first NFL start, Bailey Zappe relied on Meyers quite a bit against Detroit. The rookie QB went to him primarily on early downs, completing 3-of-4 for 56-yards and a touchdown on first down, as well as 3-of-3 for 43-yards on second down. Meyers’ contributions played a key role in the fact New England never punted the football until early in the fourth quarter as six of his seven receptions all moved the chains.
Myers’ impact was noticeable on Sunday. (PHOTO: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)
Meyers’ knack for finding an open spot and making smart plays is something that’s often overlooked but it played a part in Zappe finishing with an 81% completion rate (he completed 17-of-21 on the afternoon) along with nearly 200-yards passing.
The veteran receiver said after the game that he was just glad to be back on the field after being sidelined the last two weeks.
“It felt great, just being out there,” said Meyers. “I felt like I was smiling the whole game and really just enjoying the game. I felt like a kid again being out there. That was a special feeling. We got the win, which is most important, so going to go celebrate with the guys.”
Just to put it in perspective how valuable he’s been to the offense, even despite missing two weeks heading into Sunday, Meyers was still second on the team in receptions with 13 and he was third on the club in receiving yards with 150.
Following Sunday’s performance, Meyers is back on top of the team lead in both categories with 20 receptions for 261-yards.
During his press conference, the veteran wideout credited Zappe and the coaching staff for what he believes was just an overall solid group effort.
“I feel like he did a great job, honestly,” Meyers said of Zappe. “That’s just not a testament to him, that’s a testament to the coaches and the team. That’s a group effort, you know. He went out there and did the best that he could. We just had to make sure we protected him, ran the ball well and caught the ball.”
“Like I said, shout-out to the coaches for just having a good game plan, calling the right plays and for him to go out there and execute it for us.”
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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.
