Phillip Dorsett was one Patriot who seemed to take a big step forward in Friday’s preseason game against the Panthers, catching every pass Tom Brady threw his way including a critical, trust-building throw on fourth down.
Dorsett, who finished with four catches for 36 yards in the 25-14 loss to the Panthers, has spoken this summer about how he’s tried to refine his route running and add to his route tree so that his game doesn’t just rely on speed, something coach Bill Belichick agreed with during a Saturday afternoon conference call.
“Phil again has had an opportunity to start at the beginning this year, the offseason program, OTAs, the beginning of training camp,” Belichick said. “It’s a lot different than at this time last year when he wasn’t even on our team a year ago today at this point. He’s way ahead of that and we still have a long way to go, a lot of work to do but he works hard at it. He’s a smart guy that can play multiple positions and he’s been out there every day working hard.”
Belichick also touched on Eric Decker, another receiver who hasn’t been as successful (with far less time to get acclimated) at developing a rapport with Brady. As of last night, Decker still wasn’t getting any game reps with Brady and the starting offense and seems on the outside looking in for a roster spot.
Belichick said learning the system isn’t holding Decker back, especially since he’s familiar with it from his time in Denver with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. It’s the nuances of playing with a new quarterback in Brady that are still challenging.
“We used a couple new formations last night so I don’t think learning is really a problem for him,” Belichick said. “He has a lot of experience of some of the more sophisticated routes, option routes and things like that are all things that he’s done and it’s just really a question of getting the timing and the exactly how you want to do it and seeing enough looks on it so that you and the quarterback know exactly what it is.”
Decker has a limited amount of time left to establish that timing and trust, since the Patriots will only be out $75,000 if he doesn’t make the roster. Still, watching things potentially come together with Dorsett after a whole year illustrates how the veteran is in a difficult spot trying to develop chemistry in just a few weeks.
Adding versatility
In the reading-the-tea-leaves department, it seems like a good sign for cornerback-turned-safety (for a few drives Friday in Carolina) Jason McCourty that Belichick’s comments related to the move centered around trying to create depth, particularly as it relates to the active roster on game day.
“We’ll see how that process unfolds going forward, how much more we play him in those spots and again, a lot of the players playing in different positions in the second and third week of preseason, even fourth week of preseason, just relates to building depth on our roster when we only have 46 players on the active game list in the regular season,” Belichick said. “Sometimes those things come up in practice where we don’t have depth at a certain position in practice and a player has to be ready to back up at that position or maybe has to be ready to play at that position.”
McCourty is on the roster bubble, and one of the things that hurts the veteran is that he doesn’t offer the special teams play some of the younger corners do. Perhaps he could make up for it by providing depth at safety. Versatility is often the name of the game.
A ratings hit
The games don’t even count, but people seem to want to watch a lot of Patriots preseason football. Friday’s game was the top-rated piece of local programming Friday, with a 14.0 household rating and 27 market share on all WBZ-CBS and WMUR-ABC stations in the region. That was an 11 percent ratings increase over last year’s Week 3 preseason game. In Boston, the Patriots drew an 11.5 rating and 22 market share. In comparison, the Red Sox game Friday night drew a 4.7 household rating and 9 market share . . . Many have been eagerly awaiting Cordarrelle Patterson’s first kick return, and the receiver/special teams standout was deep for a couple kicks Friday, but didn’t end up bringing any back. What was notable was that Patterson was also used as a punt returner, something he’s only done once in a regular season game in his career. Belichick said that when asked to try new things Patterson has been “very anxious and eager to learn the way to do it and try to do his best at it.” . . . ESPN’s Mike Reiss rightfully noted that Belichick was looking spiffy before and after the game in a rose-and-blue plaid sport coat, white shirt, blue tie and pocket square and asked what led him to select it for the occasion. Belichick’s answer, after a long pause: “Those summer sport coat days are dwindling around here so this was an opportunity to wear it. Linda [Holliday]’s certainly upgraded my wardrobe. So really no real big reason. It was probably the closest one when I reached into the closet.” Sorry, coach, not buying it. No one just reaches for mauve plaid.
Coach Bill Belichick’s wardrobe choice:
Nora Princiotti can be reached at nora.princiotti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @NoraPrinciotti.