Rookie Sony Michel still finding his feet

FOXBORO — There’s no denying that Sony Michel is behind. The running back missed the entire preseason and most of training camp due to a knee injury. It’s also obvious that the Patriots are doing everything in their power to get their 2018 first-round pick going.

As was seen in Detroit on Sunday, it's been a rocky start for the rookie.

Among the Patriots' deficits is their struggle to run the ball. A review of [...]

FOXBORO — There’s no denying that Sony Michel is behind. The running back missed the entire preseason and most of training camp due to a knee injury. It’s also obvious that the Patriots are doing everything in their power to get their 2018 first-round pick going.

As was seen in Detroit on Sunday, it's been a rocky start for the rookie.

Among the Patriots' deficits is their struggle to run the ball. A review of Michel’s Week 3 performance makes it clear that the rookie had little help up front. It’s also evident that the Patriots are doing a poor job running efficiently when it’s obvious that a run play is the call.

“I’d say we would talk about all of it — the line, the tight ends, the fullback, the receivers, the running back, reading the blocks and coaching, too. You can throw it all in there,” coach Bill Belichick said on Tuesday. “All of it — all of it we’re working on. We all need to do a better job. We need to improve all the way across the board.”

Michel’s final stat line against the Lions (50 yards on 14 carries, 3.6 yards per carry) wasn’t great. But when you look at what’s happening in the trenches, it's easy to see why the rookie had trouble. On Michel’s 1-yard run at 14:28 of the first quarter, guard Joe Thuney was beaten by Lions defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson. When he lost a yard on third-and-1, at 13:12 of the second, Lions defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois dominated guard Shaq Mason.

The Patriots also did not do a good job of disguising what was coming. Michel played 23 snaps and finished with 14 carries, which meant he was handed the ball on 60 percent of the plays he was on the field for.

A third-and-2 play with 51 seconds left in the first half demonstrated the Lions' anticipation.

The Patriots ran a stretch play to the right side, but the Lions overloaded that side of the line where tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen were lined up. Mason, offensive tackle Marcus Cannon, Gronk and Allen handled single blockers, but it wasn't enough as five defenders rushed the right side of the line and swarmed Michel for a loss of two.

In a similar play, with 13:09 left in the third quarter, the Patriots tried a stretch run, to the left side, but this time the left side of the line had Gronk and Allen. The Lions saw run and attacked that side as soon as the ball was snapped and Michel gained two yards.

“I know we’ve got to give him more opportunities as an offensive line and block better for him,” said center David Andrews.

When the Patriots run-blocked efficiently, Michel had success. For example, his first carry of the game went for five yards when fullback James Develin cleared a hole. In the third quarter, Develin and Andrews started a run play with perfect blocks on Davis and Christian Jones. Michel hit the hole for seven yards.

When the Patriots disguised what was coming, they also had success.

Michel’s biggest gain was a 12-yard run at 13:34 of the third quarter. This was a toss play to the right side, but the Patriots had four spread out wide. Gronk placed a nice block to start the play, and tackle Trent Brown pulled and acted as the lead blocker. Michel had enough space to pick up a first down.

With 9:18 left in fourth quarter, the Patriots showed run, but did a good job of disguising the direction. Gronk and Allen lined up on the left side of the line and Michel ran right. Mason made a beautiful block and Michel caused two defenders to miss en route to a nine-yard run. It was similar on the next run play. Gronk lined up on the right side and the Pats ran a misdirection play. As the line moved right, Michel went left. Develin led the charge and Mason pulled to the left side as Michel gained six.

“Sony’s working really hard,” said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “He’s doing a good job in practice of trying to execute things the right way. He’s learning from his mistakes.”