The Patriots went into the Romeo Doubs signing thinking they had found a useful answer at receiver. With Stefon Diggs out and uncertainty surrounding A.J. Brown, New England took what looked like a smart swing on a player who had already shown he could produce, even if he wasn’t a true star.
Three games in, that optimism has taken a hit.
Doubs has been uneven from the start, and the early signs haven’t matched the kind of role the Patriots clearly had in mind. He drew attention in training camp, said the right things, and appeared to be absorbing Josh McDaniels’ system on the fly. Since the season opened, though, the former Green Bay Packers standout has looked like a player still trying to catch up.
The roughest moment came in the opener. Doubs dropped what would have been a significant first-down gain on a play that ended with a Drake Maye interception, then finished the game without a single stat.
Afterward, Doubs said that he wasn't locked in, a comment that did him no favors. He looked shaken in the moment, and the response since then hasn’t offered much reassurance.
Through three games, Doubs has just six catches for 145 yards. A 63-yard grab in Week 2 accounts for most of that total, and he still hasn’t scored. For a player the Patriots paid $68 million over four years, that’s a thin return.
To be fair, he hasn’t been the only problem in an offense that has struggled to get anything going. Drake Maye hasn’t looked like himself, the other receivers haven’t consistently created separation, and the running game hasn’t moved the ball much either.
Still, Doubs was supposed to be more than just another piece. He was expected to be the go-to option before the Patriots traded for A.J.
Brown, and with Brown hurt, the pressure is squarely on Doubs to be the next man up. He had pushed for a larger role in Green Bay, and now he has the chance to prove the Packers were wrong to let him go.
It’s far too soon to write him off, especially with drops having followed him at different points in his career. But the opening stretch has been rough, and his body language before and during games has only added to the concern. In New England, patience usually runs out fast when a big signing doesn’t look the part.
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Newton also put the criticism in context, noting the Patriots have dealt with injuries at receiver and saying his views come from watching the game film and looking at the numbers. Even so, the remarks fit neatly into a familiar Patriots debate: how much of a quarterbacks early struggle is on the player, and how much is on everything around him? [Read more 🡒]