At start of his Patriots’ career, Eric Decker’s drops are dominant storyline

FOXBOROUGH — The big story of Eric Decker’s first few days with the Patriots? His drops.

The veteran receiver has had some ball security issues over his first week or so in New England, including multiple dropped passes at the start of Monday’s workout before finishing up on a positive note. On Tuesday, there was more good than bad, but there were still multiple drops, including one that drew audible groans from crowd.

Football Outsiders had Decker with five dropped passes last season, while STATS said he had two. Pro Football Focus had five dropped passes for Decker last year, but that was down from an average of nine a year between 2011 and 2015. (For some context, FO had Danny Amendola with three dropped passes last season, while PFF said Amendola had one of the lowest drop rates in the league from 2015 to 2017, and averaged 3.4 dropped passes per season in his five-year career with the Patriots.)

And while it’s unfair to try and cherry-pick his worst moments, in the context of this conversation, it is easy to go back and find a few instances over the last year-plus and find catchable footballs Decker couldn’t get his hands on.






Of course, as the drop disparity between PFF and Football Outsiders shows, everyone classifies dropped passes differently: What’s a catchable ball? For the record, when it comes to the Patriots, there’s very little gray area — talk to a New England receiver, and they'll tell you: If you get your hands on it and you can’t bring it in, it’s a dropped pass. Using that metric, it’s been a rough opening chapter to Decker's New England career.

“I mean, there’s no excuses for it,” Decker said after Monday's practice. “It’s something I’ve obviously got to address, and that’s something you work through. In my mind, that’s why God created practice. It’s just to be able to get better and try to flush that out. But my job is to catch the football, so I’ve got to do better in that field.”

Prior to practice on Tuesday, Bill Belichick acknowledged there’s a transitional period for an offensive skill position player when it comes to joining a new team. He wasn’t talking necessarily about Decker -- who was signed earlier this month -- but it was clear there might be some leeway there for a new veteran as opposed to a pass-catcher who has been in the system for an extended period of time.

“I think you always have to account for the transition of a player that joins your team at some point during the season, in training camp or midseason, wherever it is,” Belichick said. “I don’t think there's any set formula on that. We just evaluate it and gauge it as the more time you have the easier it is to make the right decision. The more you know about the player and his fit on the team and his role and so forth and how well he can do it. Sometimes that takes time.”

It also takes time to build a trust with the quarterback, and while Tom Brady has been visibly frustrated over the last couple of days, he said after practice on Tuesday that it’s not a direct reflection of his feelings toward Decker.

“I’ve watched him play a lot of football over the years,” Brady said of Decker. “He knows how to get open, and now, it’s just about learning what we do and how we do it … which is always a little different than how other teams may do it. But you know, he’s worked hard (and) he’s been out here every day. You can tell he’s a real pro, and hopefully he can add something to the group.

“If you can play a role and be consistent, dependable and make the plays then I’m sure coach (Bill Belichick) will put you out there.”

With the New England receiving corps thinned by injury and offseason departures, the truth of the matter is that Decker has a terrific opportunity with the Patriots. (He can become just the sixth player in NFL history to catch a regular-season pass from both Brady and Peyton Manning.) But to paraphrase both Belichick and Brady, at this time of year, the train is leaving the station.

“We only have the time that we have, so whatever it is, it is,” Belichick added when it came to granting some leeway to a new offensive skill position player on a new team. “We just have to make the most of it. We'd like to have more in all situations, but that’s not always possible. Sometimes you have to make a decision on less information than you'd like to have.”

As Decker tries to play beat the clock, he’ll have to display that consistency and dependability that Brady referenced.

“It’s obviously wet conditions, but those are built-in excuses. In this game, you don’t have excuses, you just execute,” Decker said after Monday’s damp practice. “You get the job done. We’re professionals. That’s why we get paid to do what we do. In these situations, in these environments, you learn what you need to do to get better as far as catching the ball. At the top of routes, not slipping. Those are things that make a difference. Little things.”

Ultimately? The latest chapter in his NFL career hasn't had an ideal start. But if Decker can look more like the guy at the end of Monday’s practice than the one at the beginning, he’ll have a greater chance of turning those groans into cheers, and a better shot at authoring a happy ending in 2018.