On Sunday, the Patriots surprised a few with the decision to make rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson inactive after he seemed to be building some momentum following being a healthy scratch after a fumble early in the season.
Second-year player J.J. Taylor took his spot, as it seems the Patriots prefer to go with just three backs on their game-day roster.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, running backs coach Ivan Fears discussed how the process goes with deciding who is active and who isn’t.
“Everything goes into. Everything they do all week long goes into it,” he said. “Usually Bill [Belichick] makes the decision at the end of the week based on how the guys handled the week. We got two good guys there in J.J. and Rhamondre. They’re both battling it out. They’re busting their butt. They’re doing a great job. We love both of them. But you can’t play them all. Unfortunately, we got to make a call. Generally speaking, what they do during the week dictates who gets that call. So both guys are usually ready to go, and Coach makes a decision at the end of the week. This week he decided to call on J.J. and hey, we went with it. And J.J. was ready to go. Next week, we’ll see what happens.”
Taylor had nine carries for 21 yards and two touchdowns in the blow out win over the Jets. The other backs also had productive days, too.
Damien Harris went over 100 yards for the third time this year and then Brandon Bolden was the Patriots’ leading receiver with six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
“Yeah, they did a good job,” Fears said. “Things went well for us. When you get that kind of blocking like we got up front, it’s kind of easy. The guys got some nice-sized holes they were running through. It was kind of an easy day for them.”
The running backs could be in for another big day this coming week against the Chargers, as they enter this week as the league’s worst team in defending the run.