Patriots’ Kyle Dugger Has Surprising Take On His Strong Rookie Season

The New England Patriots missed the playoffs in the 2020 NFL season after finishing the season with a 7-9 record. Kyle Dugger had a good rookie season, but he has a different opinion about his performance.

The versatile safety talked about his first season with the Patriots Thursday. The team got him with the top pick in 2020. It was a good move, but Dugger said his season was “below average.”

“Below average. That’s really all I can say. It was fun to get the experience and be out there, but it wasn’t a great year.”

Well, Patriots players struggled on the field. Dugger showed a promising performance in the 7-9 campaign. He played several spots in the Patriots’ secondary. Of course, the player flashed his top-tier athleticism and has great ability to bury blockers and ball-carriers.

“I think all the first and second-year players, it’s always a big jump for them from Year 1 to Year 2,” head coach Bill Belichick said before Thursday’s training camp practice. “They come to camp and have much better understanding of our system, understanding of the National Football League and understanding of the expectations and routine is. After you’ve been through it once, it’s a lot easier to prepare and go through it the second time.”

Kyle Dugger to do better than he did in his rookie season

Dugger has something to say about this. He is comfortable now that he was a year ago.

“(It’s) night and day,” Dugger said. “Just looking at the first couple days of (2020 training) camp, it’s a big difference. I’m like a completely different player, and that’s great to see, and I can feel that, as well.”

Dugger’s former and current teammates have nothing but words of praise for him. Retired Patriots veteran Patrick Chung said Dugger can be “way better than I am.” Dugger wears Chung’s No.23 season. He switched from the No.35 he had in his rookie campaign.

Outside linebacker Matt Judon praised Dugger and the improvement he made in the offseason. Judon said that Dugger will play faster and smoother. Things will get a lot better from this point.