New England Patriots: No Predictions Being Made for Michael Floyd
The New England Patriots hope that wide receiver Michael Floyd can have a positive impact on the team. How far along is he in learning the system?
Early in December, the New England Patriots claimed wide receiver Michael Floyd off of waivers from the Arizona Cardinals. Due to a down season and a DUI arrest, the Cardinals decided to move on from the wide receiver.
With some injuries, the Patriots had a need for adding a wide receiver. Considering the regular season is almost over, the Patriots are trying to get Floyd up to speed as quickly as possible.
“He’s worked really hard to try to get up to speed,” Brady said Friday of Floyd to Zach Cox of NESN.com. “There’s a lot of make up, there’s a lot of time to try to make up, but he’s worked pretty hard at it. It’s been good to see his commitment, and hopefully, he can go out there and play confident, and like all of us, try to go get a win.”
Joining a new team this late in the season presents Floyd with a lot of challenges. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is trying to help simplify things to make him more comfortable in the offense.
“I think it’s a lot of things,” Brady said to Cox. “We’re here so much over the course of the offseason and training camp talking about every detail and every play, and to try to rush that is tough. But you have no choice at this time of year. We just try to focus on the things that he’s confident in, and we’re just trying to, I guess, speak the same language. That’s kind of what it comes down to.”
In the win against the New York Jets in Week 16, Floyd was able to make his debut for the Patriots. His snaps were limited, but he was able to make a catch to begin getting his feet wet.
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“I don’t want to make predictions because I think that sets the wrong expectations for a player,” Brady said to Cox. “I think we’re going to have to all wait and see. I think for all of us, it’s just how well we can all communicate, how well we can all be on the same page. I mean, I need to be able to anticipate and throw the ball with confidence; they need to run routes with confidence. Rather than predict, I think we’ve just got to go do it and see how it goes.”
On Sunday, the Patriots will be playing their final game of the regular season against the Miami Dolphins. While the Patriots will be attempting to secure home-field throughout the playoffs, they will also be trying to get some more work in for Floyd.
Due to wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell being out, Floyd should be playing some meaningful snaps for the Patriots this week. There hasn’t been a lot of time to get him acclimated to the offense, but they hope he will be ready.
