FOXBORO — As the Patriots have gotten out to an unexpectedly hot start this season, their rallying cry has become, “We all we got. We all we need.”
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels expressed a similar sentiment about his running back group five days away from the NFL trade deadline.
The Patriots have struggled to run the football at times this season, ranking 31st in EPA per rush and 30th in rushing success rate. They already dealt with attrition at the position when Antonio Gibson suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 5. With the trade deadline fast approaching, it would make sense for the Patriots to pursue a running back to fill the void left by Gibson. Running back and edge defender appear to be the team’s two biggest needs.
McDaniels was asked Thursday if he was happy with the team’s running back depth.
“I think we have all the answers we need,” McDaniels said. “Once training camp starts you don’t count on anything outside of what you have in the locker room and you really don’t need anything outside of what you have. We’ve spent all the time we had trying to figure out how to put our players that are here in great positions. The guys know exactly how we want to try to play. I think different parts of our offense progress at different rates.”
The Patriots seemingly have some questions at the position heading into their Week 9 matchup with the Falcons. Starter Rhamondre Stevenson has missed consecutive practices with a toe injury. That leaves rookie TreVeyon Henderson and Terrell Jennings, who was promoted from the practice squad Wednesday, on the 53-man roster.
The team also signed three running backs to their practice squad this week after placing Jashaun Corbin on practice squad injured reserve. The team added two veterans in D’Ernest Johnson and Jonathan Ward and rookie Rushawn Baker.
If Stevenson can’t play, then Henderson, who’s played just 32% of offensive snaps, would likely take on a bigger role. Jennings has yet to touch the football this season outside of garbage time, and he could be counted on in a meaningful capacity.
Johnson is the most experienced of the Patriots’ practice squad running backs with 215 career carries for 989 yards and three touchdowns in seven seasons. He’s also been a productive pass-catcher with 53 receptions for 465 yards and has experience as a kick and punt returner.
Ward entered the league in 2020 but has just 22 career carries for 91 yards and six catches for 52 yards. He’s returned two kicks for 41 yards and played under Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel on the Titans.
Baker entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Elon this spring. He also played collegiately at Bucknell.
It would likely be too late in the week to pull off a trade, but the Patriots could still make a move at the position ahead of next week’s deadline. ESPN recently listed Jets running back Breece Hall, Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard, Browns running back Jerome Ford and Eagles running back A.J. Dillon as players who could potentially be made available.