Patriots Gridiron News: Josh Gordon ‘humbled’ to play with Tom Brady

New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon caught Tom Brady’s 500th touchdown pass in the team’s 24-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

It’s pretty safe to say that the Josh Gordon experiment is working out for the New England Patriots.

Not only has the previously troubled wide receiver been a model citizen since coming over from the Cleveland Browns via trade, he is doing whatever necessary to help his team win.  That was evident in the team’s 24-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Gordon had just three catches for 58 yards and a touchdown, but it was the timing of his production that really showed his commitment to the team game.  It also showed the trust he has formed with Tom Brady and within the game plan in general.

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Most importantly, there is a sense of comfort for Josh Gordon.  He feels like he has found a home with a team that has embraced him as a player and as a person.

"“It felt like home a long time ago,” Gordon said following the game on if New England feels like his new home.  “The atmosphere is very welcoming.  It took me a little bit to get acclimated to the area.  Other than that, it’s been pretty smooth so far, and that’s due in part to the facility, the organization, just everybody helping me along the way.”"

With is locker next to Tom Brady, Gordon gets to witness greatness both on the field and in the locker room.  That has certainly had to have had some impact on him.  Seeing how a player as great as Brady prepares and all that he accomplishes on the field week after week is influential.

So maybe it’s fate that Gordon is the lucky receiver to have caught Brady’s 500th touchdown pass in the regular season.  He certainly thinks so.  He is definitely “humbled” for the opportunity to play with such greatness.

"“…it must be fate, I guess – I won’t say coincidence – but it’ great to be on the receiving end of it,” Gordon said.  “[I am] extremely humbled to come out here every Sunday and get a chance to play, let alone with Tom Brady, the greatest to ever do it.  So, to be part of history with him?  I can’t really even put the words to describe what that means to me.  But, it’s just great to have the opportunity.”"

And Josh Gordon has been taking advantage of that opportunity.  Buying in and being a part of a winning organization could the remedy he needed to get his NFL career back on track.

On Gordon’s lack of targets

Tom Brady didn’t target Josh Gordon as many times as he did in previous games, but that was because of how the Minnesota Vikings played defense.

When asked about the lack of targets to Gordon, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said following the game that it was primarily due to the split-safety coverage of the Vikings.  When that changed is when Brady was able to find Gordon for some big plays.

"“They did a great job mixing up coverages,” Belichick said.  “Certainly, gave us a lot of split-safety looks, changed some of the reads that we had.  “When they didn’t play split-safety coverage, we were able to throw the hitch out there.  He broke a tackle on, I don’t know, who was it – [Marcus] Sherels?  Whoever it was out there.  They did a good job of taking away our outside receivers with a lot of split-safety coverage for a while and then when they changed, then we were able to change.”"

In all, just having Gordon out there is opening up things in the middle and in short yardage for the running backs and players like Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan.  With all the weapons Tom Brady now has at his disposal, opposing defenses just have to pick their poison.  The scary part is we still haven’t seen the best out of Josh Gordon.