FOXBORO — Pop Douglas saw Stefon Diggs reel in a pass early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win in Buffalo, and had one clear objective in mind.
“Get that boy,” Douglas told NBC Sports Boston, “in the end zone.”
The Patriots didn’t score on the play, but they came closer than they probably should have, with Diggs getting dragged down at the 6-yard line after picking up 30 yards on a short five-yard throw from Drake Maye.
The reason that play picked up as many yards as it did? Diggs made his initial move to shake safety Cole Bishop before Douglas, Kayshon Boutte and Austin Hooper all heeded the directive they’ve heard over and over again from their head coach:
Finish longer than the guy with the ball.
“We emphasize that,” Hooper said. “You never know if you can get that extra block that could spring Stef for even more yardage or even score there. It’s something we emphasize, even in practice, just training that muscle where once you see the ball leave, to become a blocker. Either you’re getting it or you’re becoming a blocker. It’s definitely something we all emphasize and we all hold each other to that standard so when it comes to the games, it just becomes second nature.”
On the play, Hooper went from flat-footed as the ball left Maye’s hand to quickly transitioning into a sprint to keep corner Christian Benford out of the fray. Douglas hurried across the field to put a lick on safety Taylor Rapp away from Diggs. Boutte, meanwhile, got into corner Tre’Davious White to spring Diggs for a few more yards.
“I look at it this way,” Boutte said. “The linemen are run and pass-blockers. But I think as far as receivers, we have the touchdown blocks. Running backs, receivers, when they get past the first and second level, then that’s up to us in order to spring the big plays.
“I think finishing longer than the guy with the ball, you can also protect the ball and stop turnovers from happening,” Boutte added. “Sometimes a free runner at the ball-carrier is an easy punch-out. A lot of people might look at it as, ‘Oh, he fumbled the ball.’ But from our perspective, it’s like, ‘Oh, you could have prevented it. Don’t be that guy.'”
Douglas has just seven catches in five games this season, but he helped spring Hunter Henry for a catch-and-run touchdown against the Panthers in Week 4, and he says that — despite his 5-foot-8 frame — he takes pride in his downfield blocking.
“My mindset is, man, any way I can help this team get a dub,” he said. “I love winning. It feels good to win. It’s just that extra effort, man. I think that nobody has really seen, you know, that I could do that. People had that as a question mark, ‘Can Pop block?’ I put that on film, you know, just go out there and do something to help the team.”
Vrabel went to Henry immediately after that score against Carolina to let him know that Douglas made the key block, which led to Henry quickly seeking out Douglas to thank him.
“That just shows the leadership that we have, you know, us playing for each other, I feel like that’s what changes a lot of teams,” Douglas said. “Our leader, our coach putting it in our head that when you play for each other, the outcomes are going to come.”
“You are what you emphasize, right?” Hooper said. “Vrabel definitely emphasizes it and will point stuff out like that daily.”