The New England Patriots selected a pair of wide receivers in the NFL Draft last spring, taking Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker in the second and fourth rounds, respectively.
Both receivers were expected to be significant parts of the offense in 2024, but instead, neither player was really anywhere to be found. Polk logged just 12 catches for 87 yards and a couple of touchdowns, and Baker managed one reception for 12 yards.
While many have already labeled the two wide outs as busts, new head coach Mike Vrabel is not ready to give up on either weapon just yet.
“I didn’t do a whole lot of investigating about what went wrong,” Vrabel told reporters. “I’m trying to focus on what’s going to go right. And so I know that Ja’Lynn is working hard. He’s excited about being a new dad. He’s working hard to rehab that shoulder, focusing on, and again, he said this, not me, but this is something I’ll always say, is he’s focused on what he can do as opposed to what he can’t do."
Vrabel added he has been "communicating with" Baker.
"I’m excited to get these guys back whenever they come back, and get going, like we’re going to evaluate them going forward, not anything that happened," Vrabel added. "And if there’s things that we can try to eliminate from last year, we’ve had those conversations and whatever their frustrations were, or whatever things that did or didn’t happen, we’re moving forward with what we see in them and the excitement that they have."
The Patriots signed Stefon Diggs in free agency and will almost surely be adding at least one more receiver in the draft later this month, so there probably won't be a ton of pressure on Polk and Baker to produce in 2025. However, Vrabel has made it pretty clear that he will be giving both pass-catchers the chance to work their way into the offense.
We'll see if one of the two—or maybe both—can shake off their rough rookie campaign and develop into a pleasant surprise for New England next fall.
