{"id":34167,"date":"2025-09-29T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=34167"},"modified":"2025-09-29T14:58:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:58:00","slug":"breaking-patriots-receiver-embraces-reduced-role-in-blowout-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=34167","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Patriots receiver embraces reduced role in blowout victory"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<nav aria-label=\"articleLabel\">\n<ol id=\"articleLabel__list\"><\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\">\n<article id=\"arc-US33YKI6RFGI5GQHANQ4724OXM\" data-type=\"article\">\n<div>\n<figure>\n<div>\n<div><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/resizer\/v2\/KEQUTJLRP5DD7LYKT4EV7IHM44.jpg?auth=118fc414c9b4dfdddf44769a24031e8797196d83fd02636b3318576a909d1948&amp;width=500&amp;smart=true&amp;quality=90 500w\" media=\"(max-width: 500px)\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/resizer\/v2\/KEQUTJLRP5DD7LYKT4EV7IHM44.jpg?auth=118fc414c9b4dfdddf44769a24031e8797196d83fd02636b3318576a909d1948&amp;width=800&amp;smart=true&amp;quality=90 800w\" media=\"(max-width: 800px)\" sizes=\"80vw\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/resizer\/v2\/KEQUTJLRP5DD7LYKT4EV7IHM44.jpg?auth=118fc414c9b4dfdddf44769a24031e8797196d83fd02636b3318576a909d1948&amp;width=1280&amp;smart=true&amp;quality=90 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, (max-width: 800px) 80vw, 60vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/resizer\/v2\/KEQUTJLRP5DD7LYKT4EV7IHM44.jpg?auth=118fc414c9b4dfdddf44769a24031e8797196d83fd02636b3318576a909d1948&amp;width=1280&amp;smart=true&amp;quality=90\" alt=\"Patriots receiver embraces reduced role in blowout victory\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"CB4NV76FJJFFDFQKUMITCTFMBA\">FOXBOROUGH \u2013 DeMario Douglas couldn\u2019t stop smiling.<\/p>\n<p id=\"4POFKFQSSBHFDMBTYK4UCEAQVI\">Following the Patriots blowout win over the Carolina Panthers, Mike Vrabel made it a point to credit Douglas and defensive tackle Christian Barmore. The head coach noted that neither filled up the box score, but both contributed in ways that led to the Patriots victory.<\/p>\n<p id=\"DX7W244OMFA4LHPYG6WRXTNUNY\">The Patriots\u2019 second leading receiver last season, Douglas, played eight offensive snaps on Sunday. That\u2019s the fewest snaps he\u2019s played since Week 5 of his 2023 rookie season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"TUJ5VM7JMZFKVPJQY7XBKZVF6M\">Despite the minimal playing time, Douglas impressed his coach on a play where he blocked two Panthers players, allowing Hunter Henry to score a 31-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n<p id=\"MF32KG6ZO5HX5AUP25LHEE4DPU\">That\u2019s why he was smiling postgame.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3ARKT43ZQ5BEHGA6COQMY3COQU\">\u201cJust to help do something to help get the W. I feel good,\u201d Douglas told MassLive. \u201cI didn\u2019t even touch the ball, and I\u2019m excited we got the W. I\u2019m in a good state of mind. I\u2019ve got my team behind my back, and they\u2019ve got my back. We\u2019re getting closer together, and we\u2019re starting to play like it. It showed today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"KDEN2DSOEJH6PP4P6BCEMHQY6U\">A sixth-round pick, Douglas has shown bigger potential in New England. He finished with 49 receptions and 561 yards as a rookie. Last year, he caught 66 passes for 621 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p id=\"MN6BG666WBCZDF56YEAP74NQGY\">In training camp, no one caught more passes from Drake Maye than Douglas.<\/p>\n<p id=\"RXVQZT3PTRAN5AP2IKBOIOJMMQ\">He entered this season excited about his potential in Josh McDaniels\u2019 offensive system. However, through four games, Douglas is averaging a career-low 3.3 yards per game with five receptions for 13 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ZHGHWLEKWBA2ZHCCPDOPZZCIWA\">On Sunday, he played behind Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, and Kyle Williams. However, Vrabel still saw enough effort to mention his name unprompted.<\/p>\n<p id=\"Z6S5YGGY2RGTLKX3AOT26JD7MQ\">\u201cPop Douglas would have liked to have a couple extra catches today, but he also turned and blocked (as) Hunter Henry ran down the sidelines,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cNobody\u2019s going to say it unless I say it. So those are the things that matter, not the guy catching the touchdown. That\u2019s the easy part. The hard part\u2019s the guy that didn\u2019t get the ball thrown to him that turns immediately and blocks his guy, and we score from the 25-yard line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"7T3XX47RBVEV3FZOBXR5WQPJVE\">Despite having his fewest snap total since his rookie season, Douglas was all smiles in the postgame locker room. After being a part of two 4-win teams, the receiver knows the stat that truly matters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"KANCP5OHKZFUZEQCMNG4TOKWPM\">\u201cIt feels too good,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cI can\u2019t stop smiling. It feels good to win.\u201d<\/p>\n<section data-gaid=\":Rduaq6:\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After being the Patriots second-leading receiver last season, DeMario Douglas played minimal snaps Sunday but made a crucial block that caught his coach&#8217;s attention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING : Patriots receiver embraces reduced role in blowout victory - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=34167\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : Patriots receiver embraces reduced role in blowout victory - 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