The New England Patriots selected wide receiver N'Keal Harry in the first round of the NFL Draft last April with the expectation that he would be a significant contributor this season.
However, that has not been the case.
A preseason ankle injury landed Harry on the injured reserve list, preventing him from getting on the field until Week 11.
Since returning to action, Harry has logged just five catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, most recently tallying one grab for 12 yards in a loss to the Houston Texans this past Sunday.
With the Patriots starving for offense, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels knows how huge it would be to get Harry going, and he plans on doing that moving forward:
“He’s a big guy; he’s not easy to get to the ground,” McDaniels said, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “Certainly, when you have players like that, it comes back to how can you get him the football in those situations understanding that there’s a level of diminishing returns if you try to keep doing the same things over and over again. … So yeah, he definitely had a great individual effort. We know he’s big and not easy to tackle, and like I said, I need to do a better job of finding ways to get him in space, get him the ball and letting him have an opportunity to do those things.”
Outside of Julian Edelman, New England's receivers have been wildly inconsistent and flat out unproductive for much of the 2019 campaign, which is why Harry could be the ultimate X-factor for the Pats the rest of the way.
The Patriots are 10-3 on the season and will take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
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