Last summer, the Patriots had a veteran receiver wearing No. 85 who dropped plenty of passes. This year, the Pats have a seasoned wideout wearing No. 85 who won’t forgive himself for dropping one.
Brandon Lloyd dropped one on Monday -- he was wide open on a deep pass -- and he isn’t happy about it at all.
“It’s just important in building trust with guys to do my job, to be accountable, and to make the plays when my number’s called,” Lloyd said, via Glen Farley of the Brockton Enterprise. “So I think that all factors in there. I think it was just obvious playing since I was young, and it’s just something that drives me in trying to be perfect out on the practice field.”
Lloyd believes that “every ball is catchable,” and backup quarterback Brian Hoyer thinks that, for Lloyd, that’s true.
“Even before he got here, I remember watching him and being like, ‘Man, how did he catch that?’” Hoyer said. “He catches balls that shouldn’t be caught and, as a quarterback, that’s always good because you know his catch radius is a little bit bigger than some other people.”
Making it easier for Lloyd to catch passes is that he knows offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense well. After all, Lloyd largely was a journeyman until he got connected with McDaniels in Denver two years ago. Since then, Lloyd has been one of the better receivers in the league.
Though he won’t be if he drops too many passes when he’s wide open, we’ve got a feeling Monday’s will be the last one of the season.