Patriots’ Jakobi Meyers has hilarious response to punt return gaffe vs Panthers
By Jerry Trotta
The New England Patriots thoroughly dominated the Carolina Panthers this past Sunday. It wasn’t even a contest.
The defense limited Sam Darnold to arguably his worst performance of the season, which says a lot, while the offense had two different players, Rhamondre Stevenson and Brandon Bolden, notch more than 50 rushing yards.
The only downside from the game? The Patriots actually lost a host of players, including Stevenson, Damien Harris and Gunner Olszewski to head injuries. All three players have since entered concussion protocol.
Speaking in terms of Olszewski, his departure forced Jakobi Meyers into an unfamiliar role as the emergency punt returner.
Over the last two seasons, Meyers has become a menace in the open field, so you’d think he would’ve made a seamless transition to the return game.
That … wasn’t the case. On his lone punt return, Meyers was tripped up by the old turf monster. It was an embarrassing moment for the third-year receiver, but he was able to laugh it off while addressing the media on Tuesday.
Jakobi Meyers got to return his first NFL punt on Sunday with Gunner Olszewski sidelined, but he said he's probably getting "fired" from that role after he tripped and fell.
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) November 10, 2021
Patriots WR Jakobi Meyers had a perfect response to his put return slip-up from Sunday.
Spoken like a player who reallyk nows head coach Bill Belichick!
If Olszewski is unable to clear protocol, we can probably expect someone else returning punts Sunday against Cleveland.
Unless, of course, Belichick is willing to give Meyers a second chance. This does, however, make for an interesting conversation.
If you take another look at the kick return that ended Olszewski’s afternoon, the All-Pro return man got POPPED. He took a minute to get to his feet and was ruled out for the game almost immediately. Barring a quick recovery, you have to think he won’t be available vs the Browns.
Olszewski is tough as nails, so you know he felt the effects of this hit, which probably could’ve been flagged given the NFL’s crackdown on shots in the head/neck area.
Either way, it’s likely that Meyers lost his chance to establish himself as the clear cut No. 2 option behind Olszewski, who’s in his second season as the Patriots’ full-time kick and punt returner. Maybe JJ Taylor, who’s listed as the backup in the depth chart, gets the nod.
That’s fine, though. New England needs Meyers more in the passing game, because he leads the team in receptions (76) by a concerning margin. The second-ranked player in that regard, Kendrick Bourne, has just 29 catches.
If this, in fact, was the end of Meyers’ reign as the emergency punt returner, at least he gave fans and the media a good laugh on his way out.
