New England Patriots - NESN.com
In the cutthroat, ultra-competitive atmosphere of professional sports, teammates who play the same position often have a hard time rooting for each other. That’s not the case with the New England Patriots‘ running backs, though, and it’s a sign of the team’s strong culture under head coach Mike Vrabel. It’s also a sign that Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson are high-character dudes committed to winning.
A lesser teammate than Stevenson would have felt bittersweet about Henderson’s three-touchdown masterclass against the New York Jets on Thursday, which took place while Stevenson missed his third consecutive game with a toe injury.
But Stevenson expressed joy for his rookie teammate with an Instagram story celebrating the big night for Henderson.
Let’s not overpraise Stevenson here, either. There’s plenty of opportunities in New England’s offense for both Stevenson and Henderson to eat. This isn’t like a backup quarterback publicly shouting out the starter who beat him out for the job in camp.
Still, Stevenson’s public show of support for Henderson has to make Patriots fans feel good. Stevenson’s absence — though a notable loss — has conveniently allowed Henderson to spread his wings a tad more and really show what he can do. This might mean that the Stevenson-Henderson duo is even more powerful once Stevenson is ready to return to the gridiron.
The fact that these two guys appear to get along or are rooting for each other indicates that they are comfortable with their respective roles in Josh McDaniels’ offense.
When you’re 9-2, it’s a lot easier to feel good about sharing the success and playing complementary football.
