Patriots rookie receiver Demario Douglas continues to 'Pop'

FOXBOROUGH - Another Patriots training camp practice, another busy day for Demario "Pop" Douglas. The sixth-round rookie could blend in with the crowd, standing just 5-foot-8 and checking the scales around 190 pounds, but his quickness continues to open eyes, including those of the guys on the other side of the ball trying to corral him.

“Oh yeah, we noticed him,” said safety Jabril Peppers. “He’s out there making plays. The same thing you guys are seeing. We saw it early in OTAs, but what surprised me most is his physicality. He’s a smaller guy, but he’s tough as nails. Think that will bode well for him.”

Douglas has lined up across the formation, and has even found himself in the backfield on more than one occasion. Not easy for a veteran, never mind a kid who played at Liberty University.

“I want to be able to play anywhere, because being versatile has always been in my game,” Douglas said Sunday. “I’m ready to play wherever he wants me to play, especially special teams, but anywhere. You can put me anywhere and I’m ready to come play.”

Thus far, Douglas has done exactly that. As Bill Belichick noted, this a marathon, not a sprint, but no wideout has shown more up to this point than the 22-year-old. Not JuJu, not Bourne, not Thornton, not Parker, and not more heralded rookie Kayshon Boutte. 

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Though the Patriots finally put the full pads on, there wasn’t much physicality Monday. The best opportunity for collisions happened late in the session, a brief goal line set that lasted just four plays. Among the aspects of it that jumped out: linebacker Jahlani Tavai playing fullback.

It didn’t go well. Tavai didn’t finish either of his two blocks, stopping his feet and bracing for contact rather than exploding through the defenders. That led to the second play, a run by Kevin Harris, to fall short of the end zone, as Tavai got cracked solidly by Peppers. Turns out, the defense was licking their chops to tee off on Tavai. 

“OK, OK, we gonna sting your ass now,” chirped defensive tackle Davon Godchaux after practice, smiling through it all. 

Any sympathy for Tavai?

“No, not at all. Not at all. Man on man, every single play,” added Godchaux. 

Deatrich Wise had a similar sentiment. 

“Once you cross the other side of the ball, you go offense, therefore, you’re fair game,” said the defensive lineman. 

For those of you keeping score at home, the offense punched it in on two of the four plays in that period and, on the lone pass, Mac Jones lofted a pretty ball to the corner of the end zone but tight end Hunter Henry flattened off his post-corner and was unable to locate the ball. Put that one on the receiver there, not the QB.

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The Pats have continued to entertain veteran running backs over the last week or so, with Ezekiel Elliott the latest to come through. It would seem to be an indication the team isn’t confident in what’s behind Rhamondre Stevenson, who once again repaired to the lower grass field today to work on conditioning (Stevenson insisted he is fine when we spoke to him a couple of days ago). 

With Stevenson out of the mix, second-year pro Kevin Harris got a lot of touches, both as a runner and receiver, where he has shown real signs of improvement this year. In fact, Harris told us that was a definite focal point for him in the offseason and it shows so far. He’s not a natural at it, but there’s definitely been growth in that area. 

As for Harris the runner, he impressed at least one defender today.

“(He’s) a big strong guy. Big, strong physical guy. SEC guy (South Carolina) if I’m not mistaken,” noted Godchaux. “But he has very powerful legs and once he gets opportunities, he’s like everybody on the team, he’s got to take advantage of them.”

Would seem the Pats are still feeling out if Harris is capable of that, but today seemed like a step in the right direction.