New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk hasn’t been as productive as the organization may have hoped after selecting him in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. But despite the lack of production and a recent callout from his head coach, Polk still believes he will soon be amongst the elite wide receivers in the league.
After the team’s Week 6 loss to the Houston Texans, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo publically called out Polk, saying that he needs to “get over this mental hump” and “eliminate the dropped passes”.
However, Polk doesn’t see his drops early on in his rookie season as a problem, instead claiming that he has “the best hands in the NFL”.
“I’m not dealing with mental problems at all,” Polk said during a recent conversation with MassLive.com. “No mental problems. I believe I have the best hands in the league. So, I feel like my drops, that’s not an issue at all. I’ve got more confidence in myself than anybody has in me. I just have the mindset of wanting to be the best. So, keep chasing greatness and being the best that I can be.”
Polk is clearly not lacking in confidence. But as they say, stats don’t lie. And the stats actually further prove Mayo’s point that Polk hasn’t exactly been as sharp as he may be claiming he has.
On his 23 targets thus far this season, Polk has hauled in just 10 of them. Not exactly the kind of stat line that would be expected of the player with the “best hands in the NFL”.
There is obviously time for Polk to prove his claims to be true. But thus far, it seems like he has far more confidence than he does ability on the field…
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.