Bill Belichick on receivers: We have to get the reps, develop that consistency

[Pat Patriot]

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The Patriots made a variety of moves at wide receiver over the course of the offseason and their tweaks continued this week when they re-signed Demaryius Thomas and placed first-round pick N'Keal Harry on injured reserve.

Thomas didn’t work much this offseason or summer because he was recovering from a torn Achilles and the team also spent most of the summer without having Julian Edelman on the field because of a thumb injury. Josh Gordon wasn’t hurt, but he was suspended until being reinstated in August and his return threw another variable into the mix.

Undrafted rookies Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski are also new faces, which led to a question for head coach Bill Belichick on a Tuesday conference call about building the passing attack this season.

“I wish we could just wave a wand and all of that would happen, but unfortunately I don’t really see how that would happen,” Belichick said. “We’ll have to do whatever everyone that’s been here for a number of weeks has been doing, go out there and get the reps together and get our timing and develop that consistency and continuity and confidence on the field. I don’t know how to create that by just, like I said, wishing it or talking about it. At some point you’ve got to be able to go out there and be able to execute it. We’ve done some of it. We’ll do more. We’ll continue to do more and we’ll see where we’re at.”

Sunday night’s game against the Steelers will be the first test of how things are coming along although recent Patriots seasons have shown that the first few weeks often bear little resemblance to how things ultimately come together for the team.