Tom Brady has long looked to Julian Edelman as a reliable target for his passes, but the wideout is out with a broken thumb for the time being and that’s led to chances for other receivers to catch the quarterback’s eye.
Undrafted rookie Jakobi Meyers has been catching it more often than others. Meyers has made frequent appearances in dispatches from Patriots training camp and that continued in Monday’s joint practice with the Lions. After the session, Brady said that those reps were good for seeing “who’s really consistent, dependable” and able to be counted on in the offense.
“He’s done a great job and he’s taken advantage of his opportunities,” Brady said. “I think that’s really what we try to stress to anybody. It really doesn’t matter -- the football doesn’t care how old you are, whether you were drafted or not. The football doesn’t care how much experience you have. It just knows that when I let that ball go, it’s got to be in the hands of the guy who it’s intended for. If that happens to be him, it’s him. If it’s Julian, it’s Julian. Whoever it is, it doesn’t matter in football.”
Meyers made an earlier switch to wideout than Edelman, but he arrived at N.C. State as a quarterback. That may be helping him figure out where he needs to be to get the ball and continue to strengthen his bid for a roster spot.