FOXBOROUGH — Though Efton Chism III made the 53-man roster out of training camp, he has yet to be active on game day for the Patriots.
So what has the undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington been working on behind the scenes during his first September in the NFL?
Wide receivers coach Todd Downing shed some light on that in a Thursday afternoon interview at Gillette Stadium.
“He’s learning his pro routine. He’s tied at the hip with Mack (Hollins), so those two are together all the time,” Downing said. “He’s learning how to prepare his body. He’s learning how to recover from heavy loads on practice days and things like that.”
A major focus at this point is getting the entire playbook down, so if elevated to a backup role on game day, he’s ready to fill any gap that may pop up on the wide receiver depth chart.
“He’s also learning to be versatile throughout the whole offense, not just playing slot receiver like he spent most of his time in training camp,” Downing said. “He’s learning all the positions, because a lot of the times that fourth, fifth or even sixth receiver on game day, you have to be able to plug and play him anywhere if somebody needs a shoelace. So he’s really evolved in that way too, and that’s fun to see. Love where he’s at. Happens to be in a room with five other talented guys on the active (roster). I know his time will come soon.”
As it stands, Chism sits behind Hollins, DeMario “Pop” Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs, and fellow rookie Kyle Williams on New England’s depth chart.
