Patriots rookies break out with blazing-fast touchdowns vs. Bucs

TAMPA Fla With Kayshon Boutte sidelined with a hamstring injury and Rhamondre Stevenson nursing an injured toe Sunday s championship represented the clearest opportunity yet for a pair of speedy Patriots rookies Kyle Williams and TreVeyon Henderson both capitalized ripping off three big-play touchdowns to help New England defeat the Buccaneers - Williams pushed up the depth chart in starter Boutte s absence took his first target late in the first quarter yards to paydirt The seldom-used third-round draft pick gained separation from Buccaneers cornerback Benjamin Morrison on an over road caught a pass from Drake Maye at New England s -yard line and sprinted untouched down the sideline leaving safety Tykee Smith in his wake It was his first NFL touchdown Kyle s play early we really needed that one head coach Mike Vrabel disclosed That was the one we were talking about just needing one play He hit it and it was great to see him have that success Williams who ran a -second -yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine hit a top speed of mph on the play according to Next Gen Stats the fastest recorded by any rookie ball-carrier this season Pats rookie WR Kyle Williams takes off for a -yard sum NEvsTB on CBS Paramount https t co HkKw uXVnt pic twitter com iQpcxOXe NFL NFL November That record stood for less than an hour Two plays into the second half with the Patriots holding a - lead Henderson shot through the line of scrimmage ran through a Smith arm tackle and galloped through the Tampa Bay secondary When he hit the -yard line teammate Mack Hollins stuck his hand up and began high-stepping knowing the second-round rookie was gone Henderson s top speed on the -yard touchdown run mph Williams and TreVeyon if they get going you re not catching them Maye commented Watch that boy GOOOOOO TreVeyonH NEPats CBS pic twitter com sb b eQ New England Patriots Patriots November Henderson later added another -yard touchdown dash to all but ice the championship with remaining He became the first Patriots member ever to rush for two -plus-yard touchdowns in the same battle TreVeyonH IS STILL RUNNING CBS pic twitter com PrhqW xrQ New England Patriots Patriots November The two rookies were relatively quiet for the rest of the tournament Williams only other target fell incomplete and Henderson s non-touchdown touches gained a total of yards but the Patriots had been waiting for both to flash this type of score-from-anywhere explosiveness Williams entered Sunday with just two career receptions for yards both of which came in the first three weeks of the season He d been on the field for passing plays per Pro Football Focus and was targeted on just six of them But with Boutte the Patriots second-leading receiver this season behind Stefon Diggs unavailable against the Buccaneers Williams became a more prominent part of New England s contest plan I m just proud of him for stepping up Maye reported He only got maybe one target and made it count So I m just proud of him for getting in there He got a lot of reps this week and I think there were specific times on the tape where he was supposedly more open I ve just got to look his way Maye had two options on his scoring play Williams explained and chose to target the young Washington State product As he crossed the goal line a handful of teammates including wideouts Diggs DeMario Douglas and Efton Chism III ran off the sideline to celebrate with him It was sensational Williams mentioned I don t think words can really put an explanation on that feeling We got the look that we want Shoutout to Drake for making an alert At that play he gets to pick one or two and he picked me And then once the ball was in my hand I saw green grass and it was bon voyage after that Henderson has seen more playing time than Williams this season but living up to his preseason hype has been a struggle for the second-round draft pick Viewed as a pro-ready prospect the former Ohio State star had major issues in pass protection early in the season that limited his role He s also had difficulty developing off big gains registering just one run longer than yards over the first nine weeks of his career After Henderson was tripped up by a safety on his first carry against the Bucs he heard about it at halftime from Diggs I m definitely hard on TreVeyon just because I see so much prospective in him the veteran wideout stated When one guy tackles him and stuff like that I ve been around chosen great backs in my career and I was telling him Those great backs don t get tackled I want to see you number I was talking mad junk to him at halftime I was just being hard on him Diggs was happy to see his motivational techniques pay off in the second half I m proud of him he stated He s definitively scoring touchdowns completely running away from guys Him coming out there and busting two of them it s like it s good to be hard on people I guess Henderson admitted Sunday s battle was a lot for him Stevenson was inactive for the second straight tournament and fellow RB Terrell Jennings exited with a knee injury in the first half leaving Henderson and practice squad call-up D Ernest Johnson as New England s only backfield options for greater part of the meeting It was hard but something that I pray on is just embracing hardships embracing challenges he noted To accept that it s going to be hard It s not going to be easy Once seeing Terrell go down I knew I was going to have to carry a much bigger workload so I thank God because I feel this week I ve been pushing myself to just prepare for when those moments come The Patriots also got key contributions from a scant other rookies in Sunday s supremacy which pushed their record to - Will Campbell played every snap at left tackle Elijah Ponder sacked Baker Mayfield once and Craig Woodson had a key pass breakup on a late-game third down I think we rookies are legit as a whole group Williams stated