Demaryius Thomas showed flashes of his old form in the Patriots final preseason game against the New York Giants. But as the page turns from the preseason to the regular season, head coach Bill Belichick says the team is still trying to figure out exactly what they have in the veteran receiver.
In an interview on WEEI, Belichick said Thomas is still a rather unknown quantity for the Patriots at this stage.
“That’s a tough question because we’re going on limited information,” he said. “We only activated him for practice right at the end of training camp. Of course, he played in the Giants game. We have to go on what we can go on. I’d say the improvement that he’s shown, and the work ethic, and what he’s been able to do has been good. It’s been to the point where we feel like he’ll be able to make a solid contribution for us this year. The question is ‘where will it go?’ I don’t know if any of us have the answer to that. But at least I know that he’ll work hard, he’s tough and he’s a dependable player who will put everything he has into it. So we’ll see what happens.”
Thomas began camp on the physically unable to perform list due to his continued rehab from the Achilles tear he sustained in Houston last season with the Texans. He was only activated on Aug. 20 and had little time to show what he was capable of. Seven catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns against the Giants was a good way to make an impression, however.
After briefly being released and re-signed to the roster through the weekend, Thomas will have more time to get up to speed and show what he can do entering his 10th season in the NFL.