New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson is probably having a worse day than you…
Stevenson, just one week after pacing his club in both rushing (54) and receiving (88) yards in a victory over the Miami Dolphins, saw his fumbling issues return amid a turnover-filled loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Stevenson, who lost the ball twice and now leads the NFL in fumbles since the start of 2024 (nine), provided a brutally honest response when asked about the issue following the game:
“If I don’t hold onto the ball, they don’t need me,” Stevenson said, as transcribed by Mark Daniels of MassLive.
I’d say he hit the nail on the head, no matter how sad it was to hear…
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The Patriots made a point of adding adequate depth in the running back room this offseason, tossing second-round rookie TreVeyon Henderson into the mix alongside Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. New England tapped into that depth after the veteran duo put the ball on the ground a total of three times, turning toward the rookie for almost the entirety of the second half Sunday.
Henderson was fine in the expanded role, finishing with 47 total yards on 14 touches — the majority of which came in the third and fourth quarter.
The Patriots have zero issue riding the hot hand, but clearly hope this was the last of what has been a persisting issue for their bellcow…
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“We know what his capabilities are. We have to get him back. We need him. We absolutely need him,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said following the game, per team-provided video. “He helped us win the game last week. It was a different story today.”
It’ll hopefully get better with time, but the best thing the team can do is solidify the depth chart and put the entire trio in the right positions to be successful — and hope that they hold onto the ball.
