Phil Perry reacts to DeVante Parker failing to take much accountability after being unable to come up with a catch on the Patriots’ final drive against the Raiders. Phil explains why it’s emblematic of what may be the team’s biggest concern going forward: a lack of young leadership.
Even more embarrassing than DeVante Parker's costly drop in Sunday's loss to the Las Vegas Raiders was his response to a question about it after the game.
The New England Patriots were down two points at their own nine-yard line with 1:59 left on the clock when Parker dropped a perfect deep ball thrown by Mac Jones. Had Parker caught it, the Patriots would have had a great chance at a game-winning field goal. Instead, a delay-of-game penalty followed by a safety resulted in New England's third consecutive defeat.
Here's how Parker responded when asked about the drop after the loss:
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Reporter: “DeVante, what happened on that deep ball on the last drive? It looked like you got behind the coverage.”
Parker: “I don’t know. What’d you see?”
Reporter: “It looked like you got behind the coverage and the ball was there.”
Parker: “Yeah, I guess that’s just what happened. I was behind the coverage. Next?”
Reporter: “Did you get your fingers on the ball?
Parker: “Probably hit my fingertips, I think. But I didn’t get a full grasp of it.”
Reporter: “Do you feel like that’s a ball you can catch?”
Parker: “I think so, I mean, fingertips, so I don’t know. But.”
The veteran wideout was standoffish and declined to take accountability for his untimely mistake.
He wasn't the only receiver with an awful drop on Sunday. Philadelphia Eagles star DeVonta Smith was wide open in the middle of the field when he dropped an easy reception against the New York Jets. That hurt Philly as it went on to lose the Week 6 matchup by six, but unlike Parker, Smith took ownership of his mishap.
Reporter: "Did you take your eye off the ball?"
Smith: "Nah, I just (expletive) dropped it. I just need to be better."
Reporter: "What can you learn from this experience?"
Smith: "Ain’t nothing to learn. Catch the damn ball."
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That's the answer Pats fans wanted to hear from Parker. No "fingertips" nonsense, just "need to be better." Straight to the point.
Both on and off the field, Parker needs to do a better job of leading the woeful Patriots offense. The 30-year-old has only 13 receptions for 136 yards and zero touchdowns through five games played this season. He caught just one of his three targets for seven yards in Sunday's defeat.
Those unimpressive numbers can partly be blamed on a struggling quarterback and dysfunctional offense. The off-the-field attitude, however, is an easy fix.
The next time Parker is asked to address a mistake, he should take a page out of Smith's postgame playbook.
