Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots entered their Thursday night game against the New York Jets facing questions at the running back position. They were down Rhamondre Stevenson for a third straight game, plus Antonio Gibson for the year with a torn ACL. Additionally, Terrell Jennings were questionable to play in the game because of a knee injury sustained four days earlier versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Even though Jennings was eventually made active for the game, and the team elevated D’Ernest Johnson from the practice squad for a third and final time, the bulk of the work was given to the group’s youngest member: second-round draft pick TreVeyon Henderson was a workhorse against the Jets.
Playing 59 of 67 snaps (88%), Henderson rarely left the field. The rookie finished the day with 19 carries for 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and added five receptions for 31 yards and another score.
“It was a big time for him stepping up, and it’s been great for him to get all these reps, to keep getting these reps,” said quarterback Drake Maye after the game. “He wants to be great. He’s just showing up every day and asking questions. … I think just continuing for him to keep going the oncoming weeks and know that him and Mondre and our backs, we can create a good one-two thing going. Looking forward to have Mondre back, but TreVeyon stepped up huge.”
Here is our full snap count report from the Patriots’ 27-14 win at Gillette Stadium.
Total snaps: 67 | Time on the field: 31:02 | *denotes starter
QB Drake Maye* (67; 100%), LT Will Campbell* (67; 100%), LG Jared Wilson* (67; 100%), C Garrett Bradbury* (67; 100%), RG Mike Onwenu* (67; 100%), RT Morgan Moses* (67; 100%), TE Hunter Henry* (63; 94%), RB TreVeyon Henderson* (59; 88%), WR Mack Hollins* (57; 85%), WR Stefon Diggs* (46; 69%), WR Kyle Williams (45; 67%), FB/TE Jack Westover* (20; 30%), WR DeMario Douglas (19; 28%), OL/TE Ben Brown (12; 18%), RB D’Ernest Johnson (8; 12%), WR Efton Chism III (5; 7%), DT/FB Khyiris Tonga (1; 1%)
Besides TreVeyon Henderson, the Patriots also relied heavily on tight end Hunter Henry against the Jets. With fellow TE Austin Hooper inactive, Henry played all but four snaps — his highest playing time share of the season.
To make up for Hooper’s absence, the team also added Ben Brown to the mix. Typically a backup offensive lineman, Brown played 12 snaps as a blocking tight end both on the left and the right end of the line. Also again part of the offense, albeit in limited fashion, was defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga: he played one snap as a fullback. The final piece of the puzzle was fullback Jack Westover, who got the start and ended up playing 20 snaps.
At wide receiver, New England once again gave Kyle Williams prominent snaps to help replace the injured Kayshon Boutte. However, the third-round rookie had a limited impact...
