Jakobi Meyers never dreamed of being the NFL wide receiver. He sought to throw them away.
Fortunately for the wide receiver, the New England Patriots allowed him to live out his fantasy.
Meyers is now the best 2 of 2 for 43 yards with two landing passes. He threw a 19-yard landing pass to Patriots quarterback Cam Newton in a 28-14 victory over the New York Jets. Meyers also completed a 24-yard landing pass against running back Rex Burkhead in the Patriots’ Week 10 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Oh, and Meyers leads the Patriots with 59 receptions for 729 yards on the season.
“First of all, I dreamed of betting on the NFL quarterback,” Meyers said Sunday after the win. “Being able to throw real touchdowns and throw it at Cam was a pretty great feeling. “
Meyers and Newton have a long history together. Meyers, while still a quarterback, coached through Newton in a 7v7 best school tournament.
“I was joking with him,” Newton said after the game. “I was like, ‘Look, I’d like to thank my hands for catapulting us and giving us the momentum to win. You know what I’m saying? But Jakobi is amazing, man. We have laughed this season, with this game.
In fact, Meyers isn’t the first non-quarterback to throw a pass on a Patriots ring play. Catchers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola and running back James White also showed their weapons in games.
This is another example of Patriots coaches paying attention to each and every little detail.
“Guys who have been quarterbacks before in their careers, throw a ball at the scrimmage line after catching a pass, then you know,” Belichick said Sunday. “An opportunity to use some of those players. “
Belichick admitted that the Patriots haven’t grunted on the Meyers High School quarterback tape since the catcher’s days at Arabia Mountain High School in Georgia.
“We haven’t gone that far back. There’s probably not enough homework there, ”Belichick said. “As I said, you see a lot in the educational field. As the receivers run routes and catch the ball, they turn around and toss it on the scrimmage line towards the ball boys who set up drills for the next players to run, and so on, don’t take too long to see if the boy can throw the ball 20, 30 yards accurately.
“By making game plans, like (Patriots offensive coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) as always, he does a wonderful job of locating opportunities to attack defenses and putting players in position to execute plays. Of course, another thing that Josh does a wonderful job at is timing and setting and making calls at the right time and against the right defense that gives us the most productive chance of success. He was well executed, well designed, and Jakobi made a smart shot, Cam finished it off, he finished in the goal zone. It was a great game for us, it gave us a great boost, they put us back in the game. I know everyone needs to communicate about the evidence, all the highlights of the passage, etc. It would be a smart story. Honestly, I can’t say that’s how it turned out. “
The Patriots surprised Meyers when they let him throw the opposite ball to the Ravens. He is in a position to do it this time.
“He knew that as long as he didn’t hit anyone, he would give him a chance,” Meyers said. “I kept my gloves on. My confidence is quite high. I just had to give him a smart ball.
The Patriots have quarterback and wide receiver needs. However, don’t expect Meyers to replace positions anytime soon.