The relaunching of Demario “Pop” Douglas is underway at Gillette Stadium.
Two days after the rookie receiver all but disappeared after a first-quarter fumble in the Patriots’ 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins, he received a solid vote of confidence on Tuesday from offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
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Even if O’Brien, ever the diplomat, performed all kinds of verbal gymnastics to avoid saying Douglas was benched after catching a Mac Jones pass and then fumbling it away.
“At the end of the day we have to do a better job of continuing to get everybody involved in the game plan throughout the game, and that’s what we’ll do,” O’Brien said during a weekly coaches conference call with the media. “I think Pop will learn from what happened on Sunday. But Pop has had a really good rookie experience so far, from OTAs to training camp to where we are now. Pop has done a lot of really good things. We like when Pop’s in the game.”
Had that been the only O’Brien quote being disseminated from Tuesday’s conference call, it might have provided evidence that, yes, Patriots coach Bill Belichick did bench Douglas after the fumble.
But here’s where the O’Brien diplomacy comes in. As a run-up to his pronouncement that “we like when Pop’s in the game,” O’Brien said this:
“Ball security is obviously a huge part of what we preach. I have a lot of confidence in Pop Douglas, as I do all the players that we have. I think as the game played out the other day, because of what we did, the packages that we went to, whether we were in no-huddle or some of the things that we were doing, it just wasn’t Pop on the field.”
"The name of the game is points, and when you don't score more points than the other team, it's not good."
Bill O'Brien discusses the Patriots offense's 'inconsistent' play so far this season pic.twitter.com/ncIOVROtEj
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) September 19, 2023
These words from O’Brien follow a path laid down by Belichick following Sunday’s game. Douglas was not, in fact, used on offense after the first-quarter fumble, except that Belichick refused to call it a benching. Nor did he supply any winks or nods that would lead anybody to that determination.
“Look, we had a lot of production on offense,” Belichick said. “(DeVante) Parker had a good day. (Mike) Gesicki had a good day. Hunter (Henry) had a good day, JuJu (Smith-Schuster), KB (Kendrick Bourne.) So, you know, a lot of good players. Can’t play everybody.”
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Two things about that answer:
1. Longtime followers of Belichick’s media availabilities will tell you that any time the coach begins his answer with, “Look,” it means he doesn’t like the question.
2. More to the point for this discussion, what Belichick was trying to sell on Sunday was this notion that the Patriots were deploying an offense against the Dolphins that was complicated and multi-faceted and that with all these “good players” having “good days” there was no room on the field for the rookie Douglas.
Other than …
“He returned punts,” Belichick said.
The problem with this line of thinking is that the Patriots managed all of 17 points against the Dolphins. They also had an end-of-the-game drive that turned to dust after that wacky Jones-to-Gesicki-to-Cole Strange play failed to produce a first down.
Which brings us back to O’Brien’s remarks on Tuesday. He managed to speak directly to the fumble (“Ball security is obviously a huge part of what we preach”) without saying Douglas was benched, and yet he still made it known the rookie needs to be on the field more.
Whew!
O’Brien probably didn’t wake up Tuesday morning planning this Pop Douglas relaunch. It was offense that was on his mind, naturally, the entire offense, as when he said, “We have to be more consistent in what we’re doing. The name of the game is points. And when you don’t score more points than the other team, it’s not good.”
But before Douglas’s name even came up, he said, “The one thing that we don’t do here is point fingers. You know, I look in the mirror first. And we’re really working hard to put our guys … to coach them better, to put them in the right position, and I know our guys are working hard to execute as good as they can.”
The absence of Pop Douglas (other than on punts!) isn’t why the Patriots scored only 17 points against the Dolphins. Nor will the presence of Pop Douglas catapult them to Super Bowl contenders. Along those lines, it’s too soon to issue a thundering declaration that the Pats are a better team when he’s merely on the field.
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It’s what Douglas could be that demands we see more of him. Take his speed, add some experience, confidence, and, well, ummm, you know, ball security, and maybe the Pats end up with a receiver who is one of those “good players” who has “good days.”
The Patriots made a mistake benching Douglas after the fumble. The 2023 Patriots simply don’t have the kind of depth to facilitate those types of rash in-game decisions. Only don’t expect the Patriots to say they made a mistake in the way they responded after Douglas made his mistake.
But there’s this, from O’Brien: “At the end of the day we have to do a better job of continuing to get everybody involved in the game plan throughout the game.”
That’s close enough.
(Photo of Demario Douglas fumbling Sunday night after being hit by the Dolphins’ Bradley Chubb: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
