It has been no secret all season that the missing element in the New England offense—OK, one missing element, but a major one—is speed. And Patriots wide receiver Jalen Reagor, a former first-round pick who just was granted a contract to join the 53-man roster after spending the year on the practice squad, has speed.
The #Patriots are signing WR Jalen Reagor to the 53-man roster, source said. The former first-rounder has impressed behind the scenes in New England, earning praise from Bill Belichick. He played his most snaps of the season on Sunday.
Reagor ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash time ahead of the 2020 NFL draft, putting him in the Top 15 among receivers that year. His skill as a playmaker at TCU was obvious, and the NFL.com draft profile of him read, “smooth athlete with blazing speed who has more playmaking talent than receiver skill and play-callers need to account for that when determining how to utilize him. He’s electric with the ball in his hands.”
Reagor’s elevation to the 53-man, following the release and re-signing of Malik Cunningham, is part of a concerted effort on the part of the Patriots offense to get faster offensively. The team has gotten its second-round pick from 2022, Tyquan Thornton, back on the field after a shoulder injury, and has begun to work the ball to rookie Pop Douglas more.
Thornton ran a 4.28-second 40 when he was coming out of LSU, and Douglas ran a 4.44 coming out Liberty last year.
Jalen Reagor’s Patriots Roster Spot Depends on Fumbling
Reagor is a fascinating case, especially coming to a team coached by Bill Belichick. The Eagles made him a first-round pick (21st overall) after he starred at TCU, notching 1,067 yards in 13 games as a sophomore.
Reagor struggled in Philadelphia in his first season, though, hampered by a torn ligament in his thumb that required surgery and kept him out for five games. His second season was worse. Reagor played all 17 games but could not hang onto the ball and dropped 7.0% of the passes that came his way, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. He also fumbled twice.
Philly traded him to Minnesota in 2022 for draft compensation, but fumbles plagued him still. Reagor, playing as a receiver and a return man, fumbled four times. One play that got considerable notice came in the final game of last season, when Reagor failed to call a fair catch and instead fumbled a punt.
Vikings radio play-by-play man Paul Allen’s call went viral on social media. “Jalen Reagor muffed it where he should have called fair catch, and the Vikings held onto it. That’s so freaking unacceptable, that’s unbelievable he just did that,” an exasperated Allen said.
Safe to say Paul Allen is not a Jalen Reagor fan.
Belichick’s Feelings on Fumbling Remain
The Vikings waived Reagor on the day of 53-man roster cut-downs this summer, and the Patriots picked him up the next day. Presumably, the Patriots have been working on Reagor’s hands for the past two months, because we have seen that Belichick remains as intolerant as ever when it comes to fumbling.
Back in Week 2, when the Patriots lost to Miami, Douglas fumbled late in the first quarter of the game. Though the Patriots were desperate for an offensive spark, Belichick refused to re-insert Douglas.
Former Patriots captain Devin McCourty was critical of Belichick because of it. “I didn’t like it,” he said.
There are better ways to coach than to do something that hurts the team, McCourty said. It will be interesting to see if Belichick does the same thing with Jalen Reagor now that he is on the Patriots roster.
“I think players, I don’t think they’re gonna take the mindset of like, ‘This is terrible’, because it’s one game, it’s Week 2,” McCourty said. “But I think they would’ve wished to see him in there. I remember Coach (Greg) Schiano (at Rutgers) used to say that to us, ‘A player messes up, I’m not gonna punish that player to hurt the team,’ because then that’s unfair to the rest of the guys. … You might find a different way to show a lesson.”
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Patriots Sign Speedy Ex-1st-Round Pick to 53-Man Roster