

But the first priority: Get this guy a receiving touchdown. He has such an impressive arm that it might be wise for Josh McDaniels to let him throw more often. Meyers has two touchdown passes – against the Ravens and Jets last season – and he completed a pair of passes for 45 yards against the Bucs, giving him the highest QB rating in the game (118.7). It’s crazy given his importance to this offense that he hasn’t broken the seal of the end zone once in his Patriots career. So isn’t it about time he caught his first career touchdown pass? The Patriots’ receiving corps has been flashing some promise lately – Kendrick Bourne looks like a genuinely savvy signing – but Meyers is clearly the most reliable of the lot. He now has 112 catches in his career, including 59 for 729 yards in his breakout 2020 season. Meyers has been targeted 41 times this season – yep, even more than the Texans’ Cooks – and has 27 catches for 246 yards, including 17 receptions for 164 yards over the past two games. Jakobi Meyers: All right, this is getting weird. Jackson climbs another rung on the Patriots’ list of all-time interceptions leaders. It’s not a mystery who the Patriots’ defense must focus on, and given that the rookie Mills will be tempted to force the ball in his direction, this could be a Sunday where J.C. Cooks enters Sunday sixth in the NFL in receiving yards, an impressive feat given the Texans’ quarterback situation and the absence of other high-end pass-catching threats. Through four games, he’s caught 28 passes on 39 targets, which puts him on a pace of 119 receptions and 166 targets. In fact, the Texans seem to realize he’s their only playmaker. Brandin Cooks (right) is in his eighth NFL season. But four seasons and two teams later (he spent 2018-19 with the Rams), the 28-year-old with five 1,000-yard seasons to his name remains a dangerous playmaker.

Maybe it’s because he was here for just a single season, or maybe it’s that he was a relative afterthought in the biggest game after getting knocked out of the Patriots’ 41-33 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII. So why does he seem to slip so easily from mind when discussing Brady’s receivers during the second phase of the dynasty? Is it just me? I don’t think it is. Kick it off, Bailey, and let’s get this one started … Three players I’ll be watching other than the QBsīrandin Cooks: The speedy receiver was a legitimate weapon during his single season with the Patriots, catching 65 passes (on 114 targets) for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017.

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The Patriots can’t take a matchup with the Texans for granted – the teams do have the same record at 1-3 – but this does seem like a golden opportunity, presuming that some semblance of a competent offensive line can be patched together, to allow rookie quarterback Mac Jones take a few more chances as he continues to demonstrate his preternatural mastery of the offense. The Patriots enter the game coming off an eventful week, from the close loss but satisfying catharsis of Brady’s return to Gillette Stadium, to Wednesday’s trade of accomplished cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Panthers, to linebacker Jamie Collins’s return for a third stint with the franchise, to Friday’s news that at least two starting offensive lineman (Shaq Mason and Trent Brown) will not play. The Patriots’ fourth-ranked pass defense, which held Tom Brady and what Belichick called the “league’s best passing offense” without a touchdown pass in Sunday night’s 19-17 loss to the Bucs, has to be salivating at the thought of playing a quarterback on the opposite end of the experience scale this week. Mills, who had some pre-draft buzz as possibly of interest to the Patriots, struggled mightily in his second start last week, completing just 11 passes and throwing four interceptions without a touchdown in a 40-0 throttling by the Bills. Because of Watson’s status and a Week 2 injury to replacement-level veteran Tyrod Taylor, the Texans have had to turn to rookie third-round pick Davis Mills at quarterback the last two weeks. Most of these Texans haven’t even earned their letter jackets yet. General manager Nick Caserio, who spent nearly 20 years in increasingly important roles with the Patriots before leaving for the Texans gig in January, has filled out his roster with ex-Patriots, including holdover Brandin Cooks, fellow receiver Danny Amendola, running back Rex Burkhead, lineman Marcus Cannon, and cornerback Terrence Brooks. The Texans do have a fair number of personnel who are familiar to Patriots fans. The star quarterback hasn’t played this season while engulfed in legal troubles that include 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.
