Patriots Journal: Hill's debut comes to an early end

FOXBORO — Jeremy Hill made an impact in several ways for the Patriots in his Foxboro debut on Sunday, a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, the running back’s first game might also be his last this season.

The 25-year-old left Sunday’s game with a knee injury and was immediately ruled out by the Patriots. Typically, that’s a sign of a serious injury. Often, players are listed as questionable to return when they depart due [...]

FOXBORO — Jeremy Hill made an impact in several ways for the Patriots in his Foxboro debut on Sunday, a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, the running back’s first game might also be his last this season.

The 25-year-old left Sunday’s game with a knee injury and was immediately ruled out by the Patriots. Typically, that’s a sign of a serious injury. Often, players are listed as questionable to return when they depart due to injury.

The injury occurred at 12:25 of the third quarter after a Rob Gronkowski catch. The tight end fumbled and the Patriots offensive players immediately went on the defensive. As fullback James Develin tried to make a tackle, he was blocked into the side of Hill’s right knee. He looked to be in immediate pain. Hill needed two people to help him off the field. He went into the blue medical tent and then into the locker room.

Hill had carried the ball four times for 25 yards. He caught the only pass that came his way for six yards. Hill also partially blocked a punt in the second quarter.

Hill beat out Mike Gillislee for a roster spot during the offseason. He was used as the main backup on Sunday. Rex Burkhead was the main running back, rushing for a team-high 64 yards. James White rushed for 18 yards and had four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown. In the event that Hill’s injury ends his season, Ralph Webb could be called up from the practice squad.

Sony Michel, the Pats' first round pick out of Georgia, was inactive on Sunday after being limited last week with a knee injury.

An expanded role

Develin, as one would expect of a Pro Bowl fullback, spends most of his time on the field blocking.

Sometimes it’s out of the backfield, sometimes it’s as a tight end and sometimes it’s on special teams.

What Develin, a 2010 Brown University graduate, rarely does is touch the football. Entering Sunday's game, he had rushed the ball only seven times and caught only 19 passes in 65 games in his first five NFL seasons.

That changed on Sunday as Develin was targeted for four passes and he caught them all for 22 yards. Those were game-high totals for his career and has him well on his way to surpassing last year’s production of six catches for 38 yards in 16 games.

“I was just trying to go out there and do what the coaches asked me to do — get as open as I could and catch every ball that came to me,” Develin said. “Thankfully I was able to do that today. But we have a ton more that we can work on offensively, so I’m excited to get back to work.”

Develin’s last catch was the biggest as he picked up 10 yards and a first down on an improvised play following the two-minute warning.

That allowed the Patriots to burn another 66 seconds off the clock before the Texans took over deep in their own territory, time ultimately running out before they crossed midfield.

“James made a great play,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “He was not the intended receiver by any means, but we scrambled _ great job in protection, gave me a chance to roll a little bit and find the open guy. That was a big play; we needed it.”

Special-teams' success

The Houston Texans were crowding the box as punter Ryan Allen prepared to receive the snap from Joe Cardona with 51 seconds left to play and the Patriots protecting a seven-point lead on Sunday in their season opener.

That meant getting the ball off fast.

Allen was efficient in that regard. When it came to distance, he was efficient again, the ball sailing 54 yards and taking a fortuitous bounce before being downed by Jonathan Jones at the Houston 1-yard line.

“It was great,” Allen said. “You can’t always control the bounce. If you hit it higher, maybe the percentages are a little bit better. But the ball is oddly shaped so it will do funky things sometimes when it hits. So it is nice to have it bounce the way you want it to, but situationally I felt we handled that well and executed it efficiently.”

Allen averaged 46.8 yards on six punts — he also had a 55-yarder. Four were not returned, leaving him with an excellent net average of 43.5 yards. Credit Jones and special-teams captain Matthew Slater, who line up wide as the gunners and are charged with getting to the returner first.

“I can look over there and know I’ve got two guys that are going after every single play on special teams,” Allen said. “There are no plays off. It’s good to be able to go to work and know it’s important to the 10 other guys you’re working with.”

Questionable call?

The NFL’s trying to make the game safer, but it’s clear the new helmet rule is still confusing the players.

With 38 seconds left to play in Sunday's game and Houston at it's own 1-yard line, the Texans' Deshaun Watson threw a long pass to DeAndre Hopkins that fell incomplete. After the ball hit the turf, however, Duron Harmon was flagged for unnecessary roughness. The Texans were awarded 15 yards and given a better shot at the end zone.

The play happened so quickly that it was hard to even tell if Harmon made contact with the receiver’s head.

“I felt like it was a clean tackle," Harmon said after the game. "All honesty, I felt like it was shoulder. My shoulder hit his back,” Harmon said. "It’s a bang-bang play. We’ll see, but I feel like it was a clean tackle.”