Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots entered their Week 6 game against the New Orleans Saints with some serious questions at running back. Lead back Rhamondre Stevenson had lost his third fumble of the season the previous Sunday; Antonio Gibson had suffered a torn ACL during that same game in Buffalo; and TreVeyon Henderson kept looking like the rookie he was on a weekly basis.
The most pressing issue as far as the contest in New Orleans was concerned, however, was how to replace Gibson. The Patriots’ plan to do so was threefold.
First, they elevated Terrell Jennings from the practice squad to the game day roster to provide depth behind Stevenson and Henderson. Second, they made wide receiver Efton Chism active for the first time all season to replace Gibson as a kickoff returner. Third, they gave Stevenson a lion’s share of reps at running back.
The game’s final snap counts illustrate this: Stevenson, who had played just over half of New England’s offensive snaps through Week 5 saw his playing time jump to 72% in Week 6. He also ran the ball a season-high 13 times (even though he ended up gaining only 18 yards for a season-worst average of 1.4 yards per carry).
Whether or not this usage was a sign of things to come remains to be seen. Ideally, though, the team would create more of a balance within its running back group by increasing Henderson’s share as RB2. Against the Saints, that was not the case: the second-round rookie was on the field for just 30% of offensive snaps, the smallest such number of his rookie season up until that point.
Here is our full snap count report from the Patriots’ 25-19 win at the Superdome.
Total snaps: 64 | Time on the field: 30:32 | *denotes starter
QB Drake Maye* (64; 100%), LT Will Campbell* (64; 100%), LG Jared Wilson* (64; 100%), C Garrett Bradbury* (64; 100%), RG Mike Onwenu* (64; 100%), RT Morgan Moses* (64; 100%), TE Hunter Henry* (53; 83%), RB Rhamondre Stevenson* (46; 72%), WR Kayshon Boutte* (43; 67%), TE Austin Hooper* (41; 64%), WR Stefon Diggs* (38; 59%), WR Mack Hollins (35; 55%), RB TreVeyon Henderson (19; 30%), WR DeMario Douglas (16; 25%), WR Kyle Williams (14; 22%), FB/TE Jack Westover (10; 16%), OT/TE Vederian Lowe (3; 5%), WR Efton Chism III (2; 3%)
DeMario Douglas had one of the biggest plays in the game, when he caught a 53-yard touchdown to cap the Patriots’ opening possession. However, his playing time as a whole remained rather limited: still clearly behind the top trio of Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, he was on the field for just one quarter of the available offensive snaps — tying his second smallest playing time share of the season so far.
Elsewhere, the Patriots did not make any surprising personnel decisions. The one name worth mentioning is Efton Chism, who made his NFL debut on Sunday but played mostly on special teams...
