The New England Patriots are still figuring out how to maximize their production at wide receiver, but one NFL legend is guaranteeing that help is on the way.
"I guarantee it, something’s going to happen within the next few weeks in the receiver department," Hall of Fame cornerback and current NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said on "NFL Gameday" earlier this week. "They’ve got to get [Tom Brady] some help, because what I saw [Sunday] was ridiculous.”
Check out Sanders' full comments in the video below:
Sanders didn't elaborate on what kind of help the Patriots would be getting, or how it would materialize. The trade deadline passed in late October, and the only free agent available who could make a real difference is Antonio Brown.
Brown had his chance with the Patriots earlier this season but was released after just 11 days with the team. The veteran wide receiver posted a video to Twitter on Sunday night that made it clear he wants a return to New England. A reunion with the Patriots and Brown seems unlikely, though. NBC Sports Boston's Tom E. Curran reported late last month that the team isn't interested in bringing back Brown.
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The Patriots, unless something changes, will have to make it work with the receiving corps they have now. One of the keys to succeeding in this regard is continuing to build chemistry and trust between Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the team's young wideouts, most notably N'Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels talked about this challenge during Tuesday's conference call with reporters.
"I don't think there's any shortcut to being on the same page, in terms of anticipating what the other person is thinking, feeling and seeing," McDaniels said. "A lot is made of somebody thinking one thing and somebody else thinking something else. I think there's a lot of factors in the passing game that would determine what being on the same page really means, but practice, repetition – there's no shortcut to it. Every rep we take in practice, every pass we throw, every side session that we're able to take part in, every conversation, every one-on-one drill that we do in practice, every film session that we're in, it just continues to try to build off of the last one. I think patience is something that – I know everybody wants everything to be a finished product, and we do too, but at the same time you have to understand there's going to be a process and we're going to try to stick to it.
"We have to be committed to it, and we know that it's productive when we stay the course and continue to coach the right things and fix the right things and then the players go out and make corrections and they have success with it. Once they make the corrections and have success with it, they gain confidence in it and they start to trust each other more, and there's no shortcut to that. I think our guys are trying really hard. I have absolutely zero issue with our effort and the desire to do it right, and I think that that's what everybody is working towards."
The Patriots need to make some effective offensive adjustments ASAP because Sunday's Week 14 showdown vs. the Kansas City Chiefs in Foxboro could be a shootout. The Chiefs are the third-highest scoring team in the league, and MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes had little trouble moving the ball against the Patriots defense in two matchups last season.
Tom E. Curran's latest AFC Power Rankings>>>
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