FOXBOROUGH - One of the Patriots projected strengths was their collection of running backs.
The addition of rookie TreVeyon Henderson added some sizzle to a group that also boasted former 1,000-yard backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson.
And yet, that trio was pretty much stymied in Sunday’s season opening 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The one big gain came on a fake tush-push, with Henderson gaining 14 yards on the play. So Josh McDaniels pretty much abandoned the run in the second half.
During his Monday media session, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the ineffectiveness of the group.
Vrabel believes it’s more of a collective problem between the backs and the blocking up front. He also cited play-calling.
“I think to have a successful offensive play, it takes everybody,” Vrabel began. “It takes the play-caller getting the play in efficiently, it takes us being able to identify the players that we need to block, and the ones that we’re not going to be able to block ... we have to be able to move them and the backs have to run where they’re not.
“So it’s not just the players we have that we’re handing the ball to, it’s everybody. And we have a lot of confidence in the running backs, but also we have to be able to have great execution in any scheme, whether that’s zone scheme, gap scheme.”
On the day, Stevenson had seven carries for 15 yards. He averaged 2.1 yards per attempt. Gibson had one carry for three yards. Meanwhile, rookie Henderson had five carries for 27 yards (5.4 yard average).
The run-pass ratio was 18 rushes versus 46 pass attempts, so there was no balance in the attack.
“Bottom line, we have to run the ball better. We have to run it more efficiently,” Vrabel said. “And think that opens up some more of the stuff that we’re doing, and can do and want to be able to do so it’s not just a drop-back passing game.”
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