Patriots confident Rhamondre Stevenson will solve his fumble issue
FOXBORO -- Rhamondre Stevenson is the most explosive player on the Patriots offense. But he is fighting a bit of an issue this season -- a fumbling issue.
This is a fairly new problem for Stevenson. In his 41 games heading into the 2024 season, he had only fumbled four times and only lost two of them. The running back had just one fumble on his 156 carries last season.
The 26-year-old had displayed some sure hands heading into his fourth NFL season. Yet Stevenson has now fumbled in all three games to start the 2024 campaign, including one that the New York Jets recovered Thursday night in their 24-3 win over the Patriots.
It came on New England's first play of a fourth-quarter drive, when Jets safety Chuck Clark punched the ball out of Stevenson's hand, giving New York possession at the New England 37-yard line. Stevenson didn't take another snap for the remaining 14 minutes of the game, and finished with just 23 yards on his six carries.
It's not the type of performance the Patriots were expecting, after Stevenson ran for 201 yards over the first two weeks of the season. While he fumbled in both of those games, Thursday night was the first time the opposing defense recovered the ball. The Jets turned that miscue into a field goal.
Letting go of the ball is not a trend that Stevenson wants to continue. He said there aren't any adjustments that he needs to make, outside of the most obvious one.
"I just gotta hold it," he said following Thursday's loss.
It doesn't sound like an issue the Patriots coaching staff is too worried about either, though offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt threw out the old "ball security is job security" line during his video conference with reporters on Friday. He said that the team will have an "intense focus" on good ball-handling habits at practice ahead of New England's Week 4 tilt with the 49ers in San Francisco.
Van Pelt added that after three games with a fumble, opposing defenses will be looking to take advantage of Stevenson's issues with the ball.
"Now he's got a target on his back," said Van Pelt. "So teams are going to see that and they're going to come after the football.
"I know he'll address it," added Van Pelt. "I know he's proud about it. We've been really good so far on not giving the ball away in that scenario. Again, he'll be better because of it."
Stevenson's lost fumble on Thursday was New England's first turnover of the season.
