Rhamondre Stevenson shares advice for Patriots rookie in Bill Belichick's doghouse
Demario Douglas looked well on his way to emerging as a prominent target for quarterback Mac Jones in a rather unheralded New England Patriots receiving corps.
However, Douglas' climb up the receiver pecking order took a nose dive in Week 2 when the rookie sixth-rounder was benched for losing a fumble in the first quarter of New England's 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Douglas is far from the first player to suffer this fate over Bill Belichick's 24-year reign as the Patriots head coach. As a rookie in 2021, now-starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson lost a fumble on his second-career NFL touch — also against the Dolphins, fittingly enough. Stevenson would not see the field for the next three weeks as he resided in Belichick's doghouse.
While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Stevenson shared his advice for the 22-year-old Douglas.
“I talked to him a day after the game. I said, ‘The same thing happened to me and missed a lot of games. Hopefully, you don’t miss as many games as me,'” Stevenson said. “Hopefully, he gets back on the field."
Stevenson added that he and his teammates remain "super confident" in Douglas, whom they firmly believe is "going to be better." This sentiment has been echoed by other players since Douglas' benching, including team captain Hunter Henry, who reminisced about suffering a similar fate early in his career.
While there is a bigger picture play here, benching Douglas for the Dolphins game — and other games moving forward — is detrimental for a lackluster Patriots offense. Through five quarters of play, Douglas has hauled in six of nine targets for 59 yards, flashing run-after-catch ability that is otherwise vacant from New England's offense.
The Patriots are just one of three teams with two or fewer 20-plus yard passing plays this season. Douglas' 23-yard reception in his NFL debut remains the second-longest offense play for New England this year.
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