New England Patriots: What happened to these 3 players in Week 3 loss?
No. 1: Jonnu Smith
Jonnu Smith probably had one of the worst performances in the entire NFL yesterday against the Saints. Smith could only muster one catch for four yards, and finished the day with four drops. In case you already forgot, one of those drops ended up in the hands of Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, who strolled into the endzone untouched for a pick six.
After earning a big deal in free agency, Smith has been a massive disappointment throughout his first three games in New England. He has failed to emerge as a reliable option for Jones, has struggled with his blocking assignments, and apparently he forgot how to catch a football over the offseason.
Sure, some of the passes Smith dropped were tough catches, but that’s what the Patriots are paying him to do. If the ball hits your hands and you don’t catch it, it’s on you. That happened to Smith four times, and it killed the offense.
If Smith catches those four passes, the outlook of the offense is probably much different. Two of Smith’s drops were on passes further than 10 yards down the field, and those completions would have helped open up the offense for sure. If Smith can hold onto the pass that turned into a pick six for Jenkins, how much different does this game look?
dark. Next. Ball security a big concern for the Pats
The most impactful player in this game was Smith; the problem was his impact benefitted the Saints rather than the New England Patriots. You can find anyone off of the street and pay them to drop passes. Smith simply has to get better if this offense is going to improve, and until that happens, expect some more ugly outings from New England’s passing game as the season progresses.