New England Patriots receiver N’Keal Harry is starting to win training camp. He’s not the MVP, but he’s certainly looking most improved.
Maybe he’s not winning the offseason, during which he requested a trade he didn’t get. But he is having a really nice training camp, with a handful of receptions on Thursday from both Cam Newton and Mac Jones.
There hasn’t been any awkwardness after the trade request, according to Harry’s receivers coach. Bill Belichick had a conversation with Harry to sort things out. And it seems like things are clicking for the receiver.
“I’ve always had the confidence in Dough Boy (Harry) to be what he is,” Newton told reporters on Thursday. “He’s still not scratching the surface. He’s believing it, and you guys are seeing it, which is good for his confidence. But nevertheless he’s taking the initiative and he’s more comfortable. I think before the play is even called, he understands the personnel groupings, he understands what Josh is trying to do to him and for him — and with him. And I think that’s important. Once he understands that piece, that’s when the game can kind of slow down for him and it just becomes running a great route and catching the football.”
Harry has made no shortage of spectacular catches during training camp, whether it was a back-shoulder throw on the sideline and another in the end zone or even a diving catch on a slant route. The biggest thing, however, is that he’s making big plays every day, even a day like Thursday when he got off to a slow start in 1-on-1s. He still made his mark on competitive 11-on-11s, with a few short catches on Jones’ most efficient drive of the day.
It’s great that he is a physical freak who can flash the big play, but with just 45 career catches, Harry needs to be more consistent in 2021. So far in training camp, he’s been just that.
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