To quote the great Mugatu, (‘Zoolander,’ 2001), “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”
The Patriots elevated Terrell Jennings to the 53-man active roster Wednesday, and now carry three practice squad rushers…but does that smooth out the fault lines in their run game?
New England has one of the best passing offenses in the league this season, and arguably, the best quarterback of this moment. Meanwhile, their run game was a work in progress when they were healthy. They struggled with the rotation of Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, and TreVeyon Henderson. Now, they don’t even have health.
Henderson, despite two exciting back-to-back plays in the third quarter against the Browns, still hasn’t broken out the way fellow rookies Quinshon Judkins, Ashton Jeanty, or pre-injury Cam Skattebo have.
Freshly-inked Terrell Jennings has had 33 yards on 7 carries, when activated on game days.
And now, after a couple solid performances, a toe injured has sidelined Stevenson from practices Wednesday and Thursday.
With all those issues facing the Patriots, I asked offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels Thursday whether they have the answers in their locker room right now.
“I think we have all the answers we need,” he said. “Once training camp starts, you don’t count on anything you have outside of the locker room, and you really don’t need anything outside of what you already have. We’ve spent all the time we had trying to figure out how to put our players that are here in great positions. The guys know exactly how we want to try to play. I think different parts of our offense progress at different rates."
McDaniels further elaborated on his answer with other areas where the offense can still improve, and added, “We’re not even halfway through the season and I think there’s still a lot of improvements to be made for us. I know that’s what we’re focused on — and we have the guys.”
Of course, McDaniels is right to give the guys in the room a public vote of confidence. But is everything actually set? Should the Patriots, who have all the opportunity in the world with a friendly schedule ahead of them, and wide-open AFC, sit content by next Tuesday with their run game, as is?
And yes, it’s incumbent on coaches to plan with the personnel in the room, but the trade deadline exists for these very reasons: a good team has suffered injuries, or, a good team needs an extra boost.
Cash and cap should not dictate the moves the Patriots front office fellas decide to make before the trade deadline. They’ve got both to spare, especially for a rental this year, before any bills come due for their quickly-maturing draft high draft picks. Unless they go properly big game hunting after Trey Henderickson, they should be able to afford more than one depth piece and an edge.
Draft capital is more complicated. It would take a really special player, like a Christian McCaffrey-type, so justify giving up significant picks for a rusher. The question is whether the Patriots feel they can improve on Jennings through the trade market, and whether Stevenson’s toe injury is hanging around through December.
Take McDaniels at his word, and it’s just a matter of time before the ground game looks like the elite unit so much of us expected at the end of summer – without any outside help.