New England Patriots vs New York Jets: 5 Matchups to Watch
By Hal Bent
Malcolm Mitchell vs Darrelle Revis
Going into the earlier Jets-Patriots game after Thanksgiving, rookie wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell was a bit of an enigma. The rookie wide receiver had fought through injuries but had just nine receptions in the first nine games of the season. The week prior–against the lowly 49ers–Mitchell had has first NFL touchdowns and had four catches for 98 yards (all statistics from Pro-Football-Reference unless otherwise noted).
Mitchell had his coming-out party as he hauled in two touchdowns and had five receptions for 42 yards. Mitchell now has 29 receptions for 372 yards and four touchdowns for the season and has established himself as a reliable target outside the numbers for quarterback Tom Brady.
The Jets have some familiar faces in the secondary this season with 2014 New England Patriots Super Bowl winner and future Hall-of-Famer Darrelle Revis and 2015 New England seventh round draft pick Darryl Roberts (although Roberts has been primarily a special-teams player recently). Revis is likely to be lining up opposite Mitchell on Saturday as rookie Juston Burris will likely draw the quick and shifty Julian Edelman.
Revis has struggled mightily this season. Whether it was Tom Brady stating “Revis winced in pain” during the first match-up, comments about him being out of shape in training camp, word leaking that he “doesn’t want to play anymore”, or his injured wrist carrying over and preventing him from playing press-man coverage, this is not the player who helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl two years ago.
Revis has been giving receivers a lot of cushion this season and the Patriots and Mitchell exploited it last month. Getting Mitchell involved in the offense (after being shut down most the game by the excellent Denver cornerbacks) early and often could set the tone for getting the offense back on track.
Mitchell played most of the game last week against Denver and contributed with his blocking in the running game. However, he was held to just one catch last week. Against Revis and the Jets, Brady and the Patriots will be expecting more from the rookie.