Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton has had an underwhelming second season so far, but New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien is encouraging him to hang in there.
As many people are writing off the second-round pick, O'Brien seemed to plead patience when speaking to reporters about the receiver's relative lack of production.
“He's a great guy, works very, very hard. And he just hasn't had a lot of opportunities. I'm not making excuses for him, I'm just telling you he hasn't been out on the field a lot,” O’Brien said. “Shoulder, whatever it is, he's had a couple of injuries over the course of his young career and he doesn't have a ton of experience. That comes on the field then obviously the games. Tyquan works very hard and I think he’ll be able to do that.”
Thornton has dealt with a pair of ill-timed injuries early in his career. First, he suffered a collarbone injury that forced him to miss the first four games of his rookie season in 2022. Then, Thornton suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the first five games of this year.
While Thornton has missed some key playing time, he was on the field for 13 games last season, recording just 22 receptions on 45 targets for 247 yards and a touchdown. He also was a healthy scratch in Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins this season, as he only has three receptions in the three games he's played so far.
Thornton found himself watching the majority of Sunday's game against the Washington Commanders on the sideline, receiving no playing time after suiting up in the Patriots' first drives. But O'Brien continued to give him some support.
“Look, the fourth-and-three, he was open, he ran a good route at the beginning of the game,” O'Brien told reporters. “There was a third down later in the game, where he didn’t win on the route. Look, he hasn’t played a lot of football because of injury, so when you don’t play a lot of football, it’s hard. He’s got to continue to work, and he will.”
Tyquan Thornton took accountability for play in Patriots' loss
As things have been tough for Thornton so far this season, he kept things cool when discussing about his play following the Patriots' loss to the Commanders.
“There's definitely a lot that I could have done differently,” Thornton told reporters. “I could have run better routes. I could have created more separation. Yeah, I’ll take full accountability.”
Tyquan Thornton on his third down route running:
"Definitely a lot I could have done differently… I take full accountability." @ABC6 #ForeverNE #NEvsWAS #NEvsIND pic.twitter.com/NPDPh2gkWv
— Ian Steele (@IanSteeleABC6) November 6, 2023
We'll see if Thornton is on the field when the Patriots take on the Indianapolis Colts in Germany on Sunday.
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