FOXBORO — The Patriots offense screwed up anything that could be screwed up midway through Wednesday's practice.
They had linemen commit false starts back-to-back. They fumbled a snap. And so they ran. And they ran. Laps are Bill Belichick's longstanding punishment for those types of mental mistakes in training camp, and he ordered up a couple in quick succession that afternoon.
Players were already deep into their sixth practice of the summer — their third in full pads — and it was hot. Most were just trying to get through their latest unexpected round of conditioning and onto the next play. From afar it seemed miserable for both the players and coaches — coaches take off running when their players do in those situations — who happened to be involved.
But something funny happened during one of their laps: Someone actually tried to multitask.
There was undrafted rookie receiver Jakobi Meyers, jogging alongside Josh McDaniels, just having a chat. Mid-punishment.
Meyers had made good use of his time with the Patriots thus far, emerging as arguably the most impressive receiver of training camp. He's caught every target thrown to him by Brady in competitive drills — including three in hurry-up drills during each of the last two practices — and he has three or four catches that might be in the running for the best of camp.
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But it's not his vertical leap, his body control, or his strong hands that Belichick referenced when discussing Meyers' early impact in camp this week. It was his ability to learn, to grasp concepts, and then apply them on the field that's helped him.
"He's a smart kid and he understands, and has versatility, understands the offense," Belichick said. "Like any rookie, any young player, there's a lot of things he needs to work on technique-wise — recognition, route adjustments — just a lot of fine points. He basically knows what to do, but there are a lot of subtleties and nuances that all receivers need to pick up — certainly in our offense — and he's doing that.
"There's more than we've had to get down, but he's making progress there. Whether that comes from his quarterback background, or his experience, or his intelligence, or his learning, I'm not really sure. But that's not really an issue. He's a smart kid, and he learns well."
Meyers' quarterback background is something we touched upon in a conversation with Jim Nagy, executive director of the Senior Bowl, in the spring after the Patriots signed Meyers. Because Meyers understands route concepts from the perspective of the guy throwing the football, it would allow him to quickly grasp the types of adjustments the Patriots expect their receivers to execute, Nagy believed. At least it would allow him to grasp things more quickly than other receivers without that background who are accustomed to "locked" routes they ran in college.
With the Patriots, it's not always simply, "You've got a go." If the coverage is aligned in a certain way, that "go" might turn into a comeback route or a back-shoulder throw. Or something else.
Meyers might not have it all down yet, as Belichick noted, but he certainly looks like he's comfortable doing whatever he's asked. He can play inside — as he did at N.C. State — or outside where his 6-foot-2 frame and leaping ability make him a threat. And after making a handful of acrobatic plays through the early portion of camp, he's worked his way up the depth chart to where not only is he getting reps with Brady and extra time with Brady in side sessions, Brady is actually going to Meyers in what seems like a security-blanket capacity.
With no Julian Edelman, it's been Meyers who has been Brady's go-to guy in the no-huddle periods each of the last two days. The Patriots have had difficulty moving the ball in those spots, but when Brady has gone to the rookie, they've found success. They're 3-for-3 in that situation.
Even when Meyers isn't catching passes from Brady, he's making rookie quarterback Jarrett Stidham look good. He made a tip-it-to-himself catch off a long throw from Stidham on Thursday. On Wednesday he caught some air to go over Keion Crossen in the middle of the field for another big-gainer.
Meyers' three no-huddle catches in the last two days are an indication he's gained some level of trust from his soon-to-be 42-year-old quarterback. Further, Brady is releasing the football on his attempts to Meyers before Meyers is even out of his breaks — another indication there's chemistry brewing there.
After completing two passes from the no-huddle on Friday, Meyers was removed from the field. That was surely to get others on the field, and to get others more targets. But one has to wonder if it might've been in any way a statement to Brady along the lines of, "We know you can find Meyers. We know you like him. Find someone else."
Between Meyers' rise up the depth chart, his steadiness on run-of-the-mill throws, and his high-flying contested-catch ability, there's an argument to be made that no receiver is having a better camp
...Even first-round pick N'Keal Harry, who has had some eye-popping plays as well but committed four drops in Wednesday's session. ...Even free-agent pickup Maurice Harris, who has spent a significant amount of time with the first team and has constantly been in the right place at the right time.
Meyers is simply in a zone at the moment. Can he keep it up?
"I think there's nothing he can't do," Harris told MassLive's Andrew Callahan.
With the way Meyers is approaching his job, there's reason to believe he might be able to continue this run. If that unique camp moment — a rookie stride for stride with McDaniels, still donning a headset — made it onto the practice film, odds are Belichick was all about it.
The head coach was asked this week if Meyers' attitude to be proactive in his learning is something he appreciated.
"The more you learn, the more you know, the more you can understand about what you do, what the people around you do, what the defense is doing, what the people on the other side of the ball are doing," Belichick said. "I mean, that's all good. That's all eventually going to work to your advantage, the more you can understand the big picture and all of it.
"It's hard to get everything the first time around, sometimes the third, fourth time around you hear things, or you hear things said to the guy next to you, or maybe the defender that's across from you. You hear the coach correcting him, and it just helps you learn more about the overall of your position, the area that you're involved in.
"I think we have a lot of guys on our team that fall into that category, but understanding the big picture is certainly the goal, more than just memorizing an assignment. I mean, you have to know what to do, but the more you can understand the total concept of what's going on, then really the easier it is to execute."
Few have executed better than Meyers to this point in camp, and his quick chat with McDaniels the other day felt like a brief window into the impressive rookie's insatiable thirst for football knowledge.
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