3 young Patriots stars who grew up alongside Mac Jones vs Falcons

2. Rhamondre Stevenson

We all saw Rhamondre Stevenson run train on the Browns. Pretty solid coming out party.

But could he do it again with the defense keyed in on him? Err..yes.

Against what the Falcons are legally required to call “defense,” Stevenson seemed to run nearly untouched downhill to the first down marker repeatedly, at which point he encountered several Falcons defenders who had absolutely no interest in interacting with his body.

The patented Stevenson stiff-arm is something special, huh? So is the pairing with Damien Harris, which might just help the Patriots carve through a weakened AFC this year.

For the second straight week, Stevenson’s shown that he’s come a long way from the kid who was relegated down the depth chart by RBs coach Ivan Fears this preseason.

In retrospect, that was likely just another example of not allowing any Patriots rookies to get any spotlight they haven’t earned with hard work. Much like Jones was forced to wear No. 50 all summer, his future top running back (?) was hidden in the shadows and showered with negativity so that he’d lock in and master the playbook.

With punishing power running skills that seem to come naturally, though, who needs a playbook? If only his angry run along the sideline hadn’t been called back due to holding, Stevenson really would’ve had a singular highlight in this one.