As the Patriots were without wide receivers Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins for a matchup against the Jets, Efton Chism III knew it was his time to step up.
Entering the week playing just 24 offensive snaps, Chism went on to nearly double his season total logging 41 snaps.
While the rookie went on to record his first career catch — a 30-yard gain — and touchdown, it was his work in the run game that truly stood out.
“Efton has just shown an aptitude to understand — that’s not as easy as it sounds,”
offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “Like people say, ‘Well, I just go in there and block the guy.’ Well, first of all is, who am I blocking? When am I blocking him? What shoulder am I blocking him on? Where’s the ball going? When do I fit here? When do I fit there? Do I motion to get him? Do I not? There’s a lot of little things that go into this.
“He’s just shown a strong aptitude and understanding and desire to learn it even though he hasn’t had a million reps at it since training camp. Getting him the work last week, I thought he showed us that he was going to be dependable to do his job in that regard.”
Although the 5-foot-10 Chism and 6-foot-4 Hollins come in different molds, the rookie’s mentality in doing the dirty work — which also included a legal pick play to free Rhamondre Stevenson on the third-down prior to his own touchdown — ultimately helped New England replace some of the veteran’s usual duties.
“I think the heart’s the same size,” wide receivers Coach Todd Downing said. “Those guys both work really hard to be great teammates and they show it in the way that they play when they don’t have the football or they don’t even have a chance of getting the football. So that skill set is exactly the same. You try to change up some techniques because of maybe some size differences or skill set differences, but the heart’s the same.”
With Hollins out for a minimum of New England’s next three games on injured reserve, Chism’s work in his first extensive action will allow the team to continue to rely on him.
“I’m really excited and proud of the way he played last week in terms of his toughness, his finish,” McDaniels said. “We talk about the identity so much, and he went out there and embodied it the way he played. I’m really excited for him to get his chance.”
“I was really proud of Efton,” Downing added. “Got an opportunity to actually put in action all the hard work that he’s put in throughout the year and I thought he did a nice job with the assignments that we asked him to do and physically he went in there and battled. Obviously he’s a different skill set then Mack, but he went in there with the same intentions and unselfishness and I was really, really happy that he was rewarded with the touchdown.”
