Tedy Bruschi offers His Take On Patriots’ N’Keal Harry

Patriots rookie N’Keal Harry feels great at the moment, but head coach Bill Belichick decided not to give him a chance last Sunday. Although Harry was removed from the injured reserve list, he didn’t play in the game against the Baltimore Ravens. Why was he sidelined? This raised so many questions about the rookie receiver. He is the Patriots’ 2019 first-round pick after all.

Harry has yet to make his debut with the Patriots, and everyone thought that he’d suit up for the game in Baltimore. The rookie was a healthy scratch from the active lineup. This move made people talk. How will the Patriots use Harry? He is a talented receiver, and they still won’t play him.

The rookie plays a position where the team needs depth. Julian Edelman and Mohamed Sanu played every offensive snap in Sunday’s game, and Phillip Dorsett only missed one.

What’s the problem with N’Keal Harry?

In an interview with WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria,” former Patriots linebacker and current ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi talked about Harry.

If the Patriots don’t like their first-round rookie, they should find a solution to that problem. Maybe he isn’t ready to make the game. Is Bill Belichick trying to make Harry earn his spot on the depth chart? Bruschi opened so many questions, adding that it may be all of these things.

The Patriots probably try to use Edelman and Sanu instead of Harry. They are veterans, and this part of the season is really important for them.

“Is it they just don’t like him, they don’t think he’s ready, or they want to see him earn it?” asked Bruschi. “What is it? Why isn’t he playing?

“It can be all of those things or it can just be, ‘Hey, we didn’t have, or it wouldn’t have even been worth you playing because you’re not part of that plan.’ When that’s part of the equation, that’s a negative also, to where you think that we don’t even want to have your package of plays — those three to five plays for you — we can’t worry about that right now, because we’re just not sure you’re going to produce. We would rather see [Mohamed] Sanu, we would rather get Sanu going, [Julian] Edelman, [James] White, or other options.”

Bruschi also noted that Harry’s position on the depth chart and his lack of versatility actually led to his current status.

“If you’re fourth, fifth, or sixth on that list, and you can’t play special teams, you will be the one that’s deactivated for the game,” said Bruschi.

Is it a problem between N’Keal and TB12?

When asked if it’s a trust factor with quarterback Tom Brady, Bruschi explained how that affects the Patriots’ offense. Harry is a 6-foot-4 target, and he may be of great help in the zone. That’s what Bruschi said.

“The trust, it would show up in the red area,” said Bruschi, “to where I put it up in a place where I know you have to fight to be there off of that press coverage, you’re big, you’re strong enough, you’re physical enough where I can either put it over the top, or I can give you a quick little back shoulder [throw], but I know you well enough to where you can read me based on what I want you to do, or I can read you. So if that’s not there yet, that big advantage that a big receiver would have, which is red area targets, that if you can’t even do that and have that type of trust, then there’s still a long way to go in terms of relationship development with your quarterback.”

New England has a bye week, and they are back on the field on Nov. 17. The Philadelphia Eagles are next on the list, and hopefully, the team will have solved all the problems with their roster.

It’s a big game for both teams. Who’s the winner?