New England Patriots - NESN.com
New England Patriots fans are hoping the 72-yard touchdown from rookie Kyle Williams is a sign of things to come.
However, after the tantalizing grab on the final play of the first quarter, the rookie was held catchless for the rest of the game.
After it was announced that Kayshon Boutte would be missing his first game of the season, head coach Mike Vrabel told the media he was “excited” that Williams would get an opportunity to step up.
That opportunity manifested itself in Williams playing a career-high 34 snaps on Sunday. He saw the field on more than half of all Patriots offensive plays and finished the game with more yards than veterans Stefon Diggs and Hunter Henry combined.
The only problem is, despite his steep uptick in usage, he once again finished with just one catch on the day.
His 2.89 percent target share on the season is the lowest on the team by a wide margin. Perhaps this is because, despite quarterback Drake Maye completing 71.7 percent of his passes this year, this number falls to 37.5 percent when targeting the rookie Williams.
So, while the big play helped the Patriots secure a massive road victory against a first-place team, Williams and the coaching staff are still a ways away from figuring out how to effectively incorporate him into the passing game.
But there is reason to believe the six-point connection will create some incentive to begin working on that.
