Jakobi Meyers ready to step up in wake of Julian Edelman injury

Undrafted rookie wide receiver Jakobi Meyers has worked hard to gain quarterback Tom Brady’s trust all season long, and that could pay off on Sunday.

Jakobi Meyers is on a mission.

A former quarterback, Meyers made the transition to wide receiver in college at NC State, and it’s fair to say he was pretty darn successful in doing so. His 92 receptions in 2018 as a junior broke Torry Holt’s single-season record at the school, but it still wasn’t enough to earn Meyers consideration at the 2019 NFL Draft.

No matter. He signed with the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots all the same, and quietly went about his business during OTAs, minicamp, and training camp, until finally the word got out during New England’s preseason games that Meyers was, in fact, a really good player.

Of course, he was especially good with Patriots backup quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham throwing him the ball, and with other middling receivers like Maurice Harris, Dontrelle Inman, Ryan Davis, and Damoun Patterson on the field.

When the regular season rolled around, the quarterback taking the field for the Patriots was suddenly Tom Brady, and the receivers surrounding Meyers were suddenly noticeably bigger names with more talented resumes: Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, Phillip Dorsett, and Antonio Brown.

Even now that Brown is gone, Meyers remains at the No. 4 spot on the New England depth chart, well behind Edelman, Gordon, and Dorsett. That much is to be expected, since Edelman is Brady’s most-trusted receiver for all gotta-have-it situations, Gordon is unquestionably the Patriots’ most-talented receiver remaining on the roster, and Dorsett has the benefit of two prior seasons working with Brady in the New England offense under his belt.

Still, Meyers has been far from invisible during the first three weeks of the season. He’s caught three of four passes thrown his way for a respectable 60 yards – not bad for an undrafted rookie playing for the defending champs as the No. 4 option on a loaded offense that loves to throw the ball to their running backs.

And yet Meyers knows he still has a long way to go. His head coach, Bill Belichick, acknowledged as much in noting the rookie receiver’s progress this season, via NESN’s Doug Kyed:

"“Jakobi works hard, and he’s another guy that’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s taken a lot of snaps, he’s out there every day. He’s a tough kid and he just keeps working hard, and you know, he gets better. He’s improved quite a bit. Still got a long way to go and a lot of football in front of him, but he’s made good, steady progress and if he continues to go about things with the same kind of work ethic and positive attitude and thirst for knowledge, then he’ll continue to get better.”"

Belichick saying that a player – especially a rookie player – has “done everything we’ve asked him to do” is about as close to a full-fledged compliment as you’re ever going to get from the gruff head honcho.

It’s an encouraging endorsement nonetheless, but Meyers remains steadfast in staying humble, keeping his head down, and working hard to prove he belongs in New England. He knows better than anyone as an undrafted player that any day could be his last with the team.

“I just know I can be replaced at any second,” Meyers told reporters Thursday. “I’m really dispensable. I can come in here, and my name will be gone, I have to turn in my ID. I just take that every day and it keeps pushing me. I know there’s first-rounders in my room that I’m sitting with who they have to pay a lot of money to. I gotta come and bring it every day.”

At some point in the future, New England’s first-round draft pick this season, N’Keal Harry, could be brought back from IR. Harry, coupled with Dorsett, could represent the top-end talent Meyers seems to be referring to as his closest competition in the receivers room.

Nevertheless, he sounds like a player who is embracing both the challenges and the opportunities in front of him currently. With Harry still on the shelf, Brown unemployed, and Edelman nursing a chest injury, there’s a decent chance that Meyers sees an expanded role on Sunday afternoon against the Buffalo Bills… and if that happens, he’ll be ready.

“Even if Jules comes back, I’ll still be ready,” Meyers said. “If he doesn’t, I’ll be ready to go. Hopefully, I’m there so that nothing falls off.”

The Patriots are hoping so, too.