It took one bad game for Patriots fans to question promising rookie's talent

Expectations were relatively low for the Patriots in their Week 6 game against the Texans, mainly due to how good the C.J. Stroud-led team has been over the past year. Besides their high-powered offense, even down their best receiver, Nico Collins, Houston also has a solid defense, particularly their pass rush, which seemed to solidify the offense would have a rough day regardless of the boost Drake Maye brought in his first career start.

For the most part, the predictions were accurate, as the offensive line had trouble throughout the game from their poor protection or piling up of penalties, none of which helped the offense move the ball. However, there were bright spots with Maye under center, especially his connection with unlikely receivers.

It was promising to see the rookie work so well with Kayshon Boutte, who made the first touchdown grab of the game, and DeMario Douglas, who hauled in the second score. However, the lack of connection with fellow rookie Ja'Lynn Polk was more disappointing and worrisome.

The second-round pick had looked good in the games leading up to Sunday and had chemistry with Maye during the preseason, but we didn't exactly see that on the field this week.

Ja'Lynn Polk's poor performance in Week 6 is drawing concerns about his future

Coming into the NFL, there was talk about Polk's weaknesses and how that would translate as he became a big part of the Patriots offense. His struggles with gaining separation from defenders didn't appear accurate through the first five games, and the talk of his magnet-like hands was not a concern, either.

He has actually been one of the best receivers in the league in separation, which has been one of the worst traits of New England receivers over the last several years. His explosiveness was also welcomed with open arms, which led to some fantastic catches, even ones that ultimately didn't count.

So there was a lot of hope we would see the Maye-Polk connection reignite against the Texans on Sunday, only for the receiver to make one reception on four targets for just four yards. The worst part is at least two of those three misses were catchable.

It's brought on a flurry of chatter, wondering if this was just a bad game for the rookie pass catcher, and some suggest that the Patriots made the wrong choice in the draft by selecting him.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but we won't know until Maye continues to be the starter and gets more comfortable as the weeks go on. If the connection between the two doesn't improve or Polk's performance still flounders, then it's a conversation to be revisited.

For now, keeping the worries about Polk to the side seems the most logical, and seeing how he does against the Jaguars next week might give us more of a hint of where he's at in his development and what might need to be adjusted moving forward.

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