Patriots notebook: Josh McDaniels had a few things to say about the team’s pass distribution
“It’s football."
FOXBOROUGH — Wide receivers Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett combined for zero receptions on zero targets against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon.
The underwhelming stat line seemed a bit surprising, given the absence of Josh Gordon, but offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels expressed little to no concern about the team’s distribution of the ball.
“It’s football,’’ McDaniels told reporters at Gillette Stadium Monday. “I’ve been around long enough to know the ball doesn’t always go to everybody equally. There’s a lot of reasons for that. I think we have a great group of guys that are really unselfish and care most about winning, which is the truth and why it’s so much fun to come to work.’’
Against the Bills, Hogan was on the field for 83 percent of New England’s offensive snaps — up from his season average of 71.3 percent — although his production didn’t correlate with the increased usage. Hogan, 30, has been held without a catch in four of the Patriots’ last seven games. Last year, Hogan recorded at least one reception in the nine regular-season and three postseason contests.
Heading into Week 17, Hogan has been targeted 15 fewer times than his total (59) from last season when he missed several games due to a shoulder injury. McDaniels indicated the reduction has not been intentional.
“We have one ball on every play, and there’s lots of skilled guys out there that can do good things with it,’’ McDaniels said. “Sometimes it’s designed to go to somebody and [the other team] takes it away on defense, [or] sometimes there’s more than one guy open and it can only go to one of those guys.’’
Despite drawing some attention for slamming his helmet down after a series against the Bills, Hogan said after the game that he is “not at all’’ frustrated by the lack of targets. But if he were, McDaniels said he would not be bothered.
“I want all our skilled guys to want the ball,’’ McDaniels said. “It means they work hard in practice, they feel like they have opportunities to help our team, so I don’t mind that they’re eager to get their chance. That’s a good thing. I don’t think we have anything negative in terms of attitudes and those types of things. Guys want to contribute and help our team win, which I think is great.’’
“Sometimes certain guys don’t touch it as much, and then the next week, it’ll flip around and somebody else will have it a bunch and somebody else might have it less. A lot of that is determined by what the defense does and doesn’t do, which is completely out of our hands. We don’t pick what they do. Hopefully, we just try to do the right thing every play.’’
Secondary thoughts
There’s been “a lot of improvement’’ to the Patriots’ secondary, as well as to their overall defense, according to de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
“It’s a hard-working group,’’ Flores said. “They all really do a good job.’’
While rattling off the names of veteran contributors, such as Devin McCourty, Stephon Gilmore, and Duron Harmon, Flores also included rookie cornerback JC Jackson among the leaders. Jackson, who struggled with getting beat as well as getting whistled for penalties at the start of the season, was one of two players to log 100 percent of the team’s defensive snaps Sunday.
“It’s really about how you deal with that adversity,’’ Flores said. “He’s got a short-term memory, which is good for that position. He’s got a good attitude and brings that attitude every day. He’s done a really good job, but everything we want to accomplish is in front of us. I hope he’s not resting on what’s happened so far. We’re still building.’’
Coach Bill Belichick also wasn’t shy with complimenting Jackson, who has three interceptions on the season.
“He does a good job of finding the ball and seeing both his receiver and the quarterback,’’ Belichick said. “JC’s a very instinctive player, and he’s got good hands. He catches the ball well.’’
Any given week . . .
Belichick downplayed the notion that this year has been particularly difficult for the Patriots.
“Every year’s a challenge,’’ he said. “It’s the National Football League. Good teams and good players every week, every year, you can’t just show up in this league. You have to be ready to play against the best of the best every week.’’
Both Belichick and McDaniels noted the obstacles that the Patriots are up against this season are not unique to their organization.
“There will be challenges for every team every year,’’ Belichick said. “Every team goes through things. When you play football for five months, things happen that you have to deal with as a team and you have to deal with individually. I can’t imagine a season where that would never not be the case.’’
