As a former first-round pick out of The U – the University of Miami's swag-filled football program – Patriots veteran receiver Phillip Dorsett doesn't seem to fit the mold of a former Hurricane.
Hailing from a school that produced Ray Lewis, Michael Irvin and, more recently, the turnover chain, Dorsett is in many ways the antithesis of a typical Hurricane.
"I would say I'm my own self. I've naturally never been a guy like that," Dorsett said this week, acknowledging that he's a-typical of most players that come out of Miami. "Lot of guys are like that. I've always been hardheaded when it came to that. It makes me uncomfortable if I even think about getting it like that, in that way. That's just not me. I'm not really a cocky person. I'm more of…I believe in thinking of other people first, before myself. I'm really selfless. Being selfless is thinking about yourself less. I'm just more about the team than anything."
Given that mentality and that humble personality, it's not surprising that Dorsett has fit in with the Patriots since arriving via trade from the Colts in early September of 2017.
"I think that's why I gel so well and I think that's why I like it here so much," Dorsett said, choosing to re-sign with New England on a one-year contract as a free agent this offseason.
It's also why Dorsett seems to have two pretty vocal fans in the two most important people in the football offices of Gillette Stadium – Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
"Phil's done a great job for us. He's been versatile and very dependable," Belichick raved this week, far from the first time he's heaped praised on his sometimes overlooked pass catcher. "His role's changed many times. He's played inside, he's played outside, he's played on early downs, he's played on third down and two-minute, he's been kind of a motion player or a perimeter player. So Phil's really got a good skillset. He's very smart, very dependable and he's just come through for us week after week, year after year at many critical junctures in games and in seasons. But he's very well prepared and has great position versatility and a mental flexibility to handle a lot of different roles and assignments, so he's a very, very valuable player for us."
Brady agreed with Belichick's assessment, but also projected even bigger contributions for Dorsett moving forward.
While no one would argue with his ability to catch the ball – he had a streak of 26 straight catches snapped on a questionable call that even went to a Belichick replay challenge against the Jets – Dorsett has never really put up the kind of numbers you might expect from a speedy former first-round pick. His most productive season came when he caught 33 passes for 528 yards in Indianapolis in 2016. Though he hauled in 32 passes a year ago in New England he averaged a minuscule 9.1 yards per reception.
This year has been a bit different, though. In three games Dorsett ranks second on the team with 13 catches for 187 yards (14.4 avg.) and a team-best three touchdowns. He already has scores of 58 and 25 yards after not having a catch longer than 20 yards in 16 games played a year ago.
"He's done a great job for us and he's making a lot of plays for us, we put him all over the field, and [he] just continues to improve," Brady gushed, praising Dorsett's evolution in New England and highlighting what might be yet to come. "I think this has been a big year for Phil. He's worked really hard, put himself in a great position to take advantage of his opportunities, and he's certainly done it. So, everyone's happy for Phil. Nobody deserves it more than him, and he's going to need to keep doing it. He's one of the guys that's now become one of the people on the team that you just have to count on week-to-week and you have to know exactly what you're going to get. Because there's sometimes where you don't – he was one of those guys before that was like, 'Man, we don't know.' He was new here. There were other guys that carried a burden. And I think the veteran players who have been around, been in the tough games, know how to do it, you've got to carry the burden while the other guys can get up to speed and learn. So, that's part of the responsibility as a veteran player, for a guy like Phil, for a guy like Julian [Edelman], James White, Joe Thuney. You know, they were all young players at one point. Now they've become the veteran players that they've got to carry most of the burden."
With the circus that was Antonio Brown having left town permanently, the uncertainty of Edelman's health due to a chest/rib injury and the always-unknown reliability of Josh Gordon, Dorsett is going to be leaned on more than ever. It's a role he didn't exactly seem prepared for last September when Edelman was suspended and before a trade for Gordon, but it's an opportunity he now seems and sounds ready to run with.
"I don't like to use the word breakout year, I'm just out here just playing football," Dorsett said. "This is fun. I get to wake up every day and I get to say that I get to play football for a living. That's been my dream ever since I was little. I'm just living in the dream. And I'm just trying to work hard every day to try to get better. That's all I can do."
Dorsett may not want to use the term breakout year, but if the first three weeks of production are an indication of what's to come that might just be how the rest of the world will describe 2019 for the soft-spoken, humble former Hurricane.
Dorsett likes to let his play do the talking, and so far his work on the field is saying more than it ever has before.
