Patriots undrafted rookie Efton Chism made his mark in his NFL preseason debut
The undrafted rookie led the Patriots in receptions on Friday.
FOXBOROUGH – The word that Efton Chism used to describe the feeling of walking through the tunnel and onto the turf at Gillette Stadium for his NFL debut was surreal.
Just playing in the game was a dream come true for the 5-foot-10, 198-pound undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington.
Chism made the most of his opportunity, leading New England in receptions (6) and receiving yards (50). He was the only Patriot to catch a touchdown pass in the 48-18 win against the Commanders.
Chism smiled from ear to ear as he spoke at the podium during his postgame press conference. His excitement was easy to see.
“It’s a blessing to be here and I don’t take it for granted,” Chism said. “I got to go out there and play, so it was super awesome. Super thankful for the opportunity.”
Quarterback Drake Maye didn’t play long, throwing just five passes. But he saw the little things that made Chism stand out from the sidelines.
“He’s a baller,” Maye said. “He loves coming up and asking me questions about routes. He loves talking football. He’s just a football player, you saw it tonight, making plays.
“I’m glad he got in the endzone and he almost got in the end zone again on a screen, but he got chased down,” Maye added. “Just blocking hard, doing all the right things. That’s what we preach in the offensive room. Keep showing up and you’ll get rewarded.”
Many coaches preach the importance of blocking. No block, no rock is a fairly popular saying when it comes to dealing with skill-position players. Chism credited his past coaches for instilling a passion for blocking within him.
“It kind of started in high school, my coaches were always on us about blocking, you know, you’re never going to get the ball if you don’t block,” Chism said. “So, I always kind of carried that over and just doing all the little details, I feel like just being a receiver that can block, that can open up opportunities to get on the field. Whatever I can do to help the team.”
Hanging on to tough caches, along with blocking, has shown coach Mike Vrabel that the small receiver can play with heart.
“I think his play strength stood out to me,” Vrabel said. “Just from the sideline. I think it’s just the way he blocks and his ability to catch the ball in traffic.”
“The ball was basically tipped or bobbled, coming out of Ben [Wooldridge’s] hand and it kind of ran through a tackle and ran through contact and then we threw him the screen. So those are all positives.”
“I knew it was coming to me and I knew I had to get vertical to try to get the first down. I don’t exactly remember what down it was but I wanted to get vertical and let the linemen block for me and just go make things happen.”
The Patriots have a new sign hanging outside of their locker room. It reads: 1. Effort and finish, 2. ball security and ball disruption, 3. details, technique, and fundamentals, 4. make great decisions.
New England did that as a team on Friday night, and Chism was one of many players who embodied those values.
He’s happy to be here and doing his best not to overthink things.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s football. We’ve been playing our whole lives,” Chism said. “I just think about it like I’m playing back at my high school or my college. Go out there and play, let loose, be free because once you start overthinking, overanalyzing stuff, it can kind of catch up to you.”
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