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When the Patriots started training camp last year, there were no guarantees Rhamondre Stevenson would get the opportunity to blossom into the star he’s become.
Every time the talented young running back would touch the field, it seemed like either then-offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels or then-running backs coach Ivan Fears was giving him an earful about something: a pass protection he’d blown or a hole he should’ve seen on a handoff.
Then, Stevenson had to work his way back into his coaches’ good graces after fumbling in his first NFL game against the Dolphins in Week 1, which he eventually did and never looked back.
It’s been a similar slog for rookies Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris to get some burn in New England’s backfield this season. Stevenson told WEEI Thursday he sees a lot of his own experience in what they’ve gone through upon entering the league.
“My first month here, it was very rough. The coaches were on me constantly,” he said. “When the young guys first got here, a lot of the same things happened. Coaches on them. So I just told them, ‘I was in your exact same boat last year. Don’t listen to the way they’re saying it. Listen to what they’re saying. Just to to be coachable, and your time is going to come.’
“There’s some ballers in there. I knew they were going to put it on the field sooner or later.”
After almost no playing time on offense for either until the Arizona Cardinals game, injuries to Damien Harris and Stevenson have forced the young guns into action, and they proved themselves by each notching their first NFL touchdown runs.
Then, the two spelled Stevenson for an efficient 44 yards in nine combined carries (4.9 yards a tote). Stevenson, meanwhile, busted out for 172 yards on 19 attempts and a 34-yard touchdown jaunt that should’ve been the game-winning score.
In the end, though, everyone only remembers Stevenson’s final touch of the game: a long run that turned into an impromptu lateral to Jakobi Meyers, which then became a game-winning touchdown for the Raiders.
But like the rest of his team, Stevenson is ready to turn the page, and he’s using some of his own advice to his young teammates as a mantra to help him do so.
“I just don’t let things like that deter me from the end goal, what I’m here for and what I’m here to do,” he said of dwelling on the end-of-game disaster. “I tell those young guys, ‘There’s going to be bumps in the road. Things aren’t always going to go your way. Just stay with it, stay down, and all your hard work will pay off.”
It’s a new game this week and a new opponent in Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Patriots will need everything Stevenson, Strong and Harris have to give to stay alive in the playoff picture last this weekend.
