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Milton exceeded Mayo’s expectations in Patriots’ preseason opener

Milton exceeded Mayo’s expectations in Patriots’ preseason opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers didn’t play the most entertaining preseason game at a rainy Gillette Stadium on Thursday night, but there were a couple exciting moments that brought fans to their feet.

Most of them belonged to rookie quarterback Joe Milton.

The University of Tennessee product was the last of the four Patriots QBs to see the field, but he did lead two scoring drives in the fourth quarter of a 17-3 win.

The first ended with a field goal. Milton completed 3-of-3 pass attempts for 16 yards and also ran for 12 yards as New England moved into field goal range.

The next drive ended with the Patriots’ second touchdown of the game. Milton froze the safety in the middle of the field and then found wide receiver JaQuae Jackson for a 38-yard score down the left sideline.

Milton finished with four completions on six attempts for 54 yards and a touchdown. He also picked up 25 rushing yards on two attempts.

When asked after the game if any players exceeded his expectations, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo singled out Milton.

“I need to go back and watch the film, but the easy answer would be Joe,” Mayo said during his postgame press conference. “It’s been a long time — I don’t think we’ve ever seen a quarterback here run around as much as he did and still get the ball down field. He’s one of those guys.”

Milton appreciated Mayo’s comments.

“Hearing that from the head coach, thanks to him. But I feel like I got a lot more work to do,” Milton said at his postgame press conference.

“There’s a lot of things in the offense I need to learn and I need to learn them fast. Just being hard on myself, that’s the only way I got this far. Thanks for coach Mayo for saying that, but there’s a lot of work to go. I have to keep studying, can’t get complacent no matter how well the game went tonight. Just have to get ready for the next one.”

The Patriots’ second…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/milton-exceeded-mayos-expectations-patriots-032723165.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-08-09 03:27:23

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