FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Matthew Slater has heard it all before, again and again, for the last nine offseasons.
“Ever since Randy (Moss) left here,” the 11th-year New England Patriots wide receiver and special teams ace told USA TODAY Sports during a quiet moment in front of his locker, “I feel like the story has been the same: We’re not good enough, we don’t have enough pieces. We just kind of brush that aside.”
Slater chuckled and rolled his eyes at the reoccurring theme. And then he explained why he’s never surprised that regardless of the lack of star-power, someone from the Patriots’ wide receiver unit always emerges as a go-to for quarterback Tom Brady.
The two reasons were simple: Hard work and, of course, Tom Brady.
Sunday in their season-opening 27-20 win over the Houston Texans, Slater’s young teammate Phillip Dorsett filled that go-to role for Brady and Co., recording seven catches for 66 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.
It served as quite the season debut for the fourth-year player, who was traded to New England just before the start of last season and had just 12 receptions for 194 yards and no touchdowns in 2017. But the performance didn’t at all come as a surprise to Slater, coach Bill Belichick or anyone else in the locker room.
Dorsett spent the offseason putting in extra time to learn the offense and work on his pass-catching skills. He logged additional minutes catching passes from Brady following the mandatory offseason sessions the quarterback attended, and following training camp practices.
So, despite all the comings and goings at wide receiver this offseason (Brandin Cooks was traded, Danny Amendola signed with Dolphins, Julian Edelman was suspended, Jordan Matthews and Kenny Britt were cut and Eric Decker retired), Dorsett always felt ready.
“Tom plays a big role in instilling confidence in guys,” Slater explained. “Guys buy in, and Phil has definitely been a guy that’s bought in and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”
Brady validated Slater’s assessment a short time later as he spoke from the podium.
“It’s kind of what (Dorsett) has been doing all camp, all spring, and it was good to see it show up today. … If you’re out there, I trust you, the coaches trust you, the team trusts you,” said Brady, who finished the game with 26 of 39 yards for 277 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. “That’s why we’re putting you out there. So, guys that usually we don’t trust don’t get much opportunity out there. So, Phillip did a great job with his opportunity today.”
Reporters swarmed Dorsett at his locker to get his reaction to his performance. He repeatedly dismissed the notion that Sunday served as his coming out party. The Patriots’ offense is so diverse, he explained.
“This is a really complex offense. It’s always changing. Something that’s your role today, you might not have tomorrow,” he said. “We game plan a certain way and you never know what’s going to be in it. It’s always changing. So, you study. That’s all it is. Keep learning and studying and that’s how you execute.”
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