What the Patriots are saying about rookie WR Tyquan Thornton’s struggles
New England Patriots wide receiver Tyquan Thornton has hit a bit of a bump in the road, as the rookie wideout adjusts to the NFL.
He had a breakout game against the Cleveland Browns that saw him catch four passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed the ball three times for 16 yards and a touchdown. Since then, his production has dipped a bit. He had no receptions in Thursday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and he’s had just four receptions in the last five games.
The 22-year-old wide receiver has shown his speed and explosiveness at times for New England. However, he has not been able to put it all together consistently. The Baylor product has also been dealing with a personal tragedy off the field.
Nevertheless, the organization is still confident in his abilities. Wide receivers coach Troy Brown is especially pleased with how he is developing.
“Tyquan’s doing everything we ask of him,” said Brown, via NESN’s Dakota Randall. “He comes out, he practices hard, he goes in the game and he plays well. …We haven’t been trying to keep him on any pace or anything like that, measuring him against another rookie or anything. But he’s doing what we ask him to do for our football team.”
Assistant coach Ross Douglas echoed the same sentiment as Brown. Thornton is a young player still trying to find his footing after missing a huge chunk of the season with a collarbone injury.
It takes time.
“I think Tyquan, I see him as a young player that’s ascending and he’s getting better every single day,” Douglas said, per Randall. “The ball hasn’t really found him here in the past couple weeks. But we look on film, he’s doing a lot of good things. He’s creating some separation. He’s blocking hard in the run game. He’s a player that will continue to improve. And, by him just continuing to do what he’s doing, he’ll be able to contribute more.”
Thornton has 10 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown on the year with the game against the Browns still his most productive on the season.
He only has two receptions for 10 yards over his last three games. It will be intriguing to see how the rest of his season plays out and if he is able to break out of this slump.
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