It's almost the midway point, and Brady and Lloyd still aren't fully clicking in games.
As the season rapidly approaches its midway point, the relationship between Tom Brady and Tom Brady remains stuck in a state of awkwardness and stubbornly refuses to heat up.
Last week against the Jets, Lloyd was targeted eight times and only came up with three catches. Some of that was due to Brady simply missing him, a few instances the two weren’t on the same page, but three other times Lloyd simply dropped the ball.
Lloyd knows that this unacceptable and the fast-track to killing whatever trust he’s built with Brady, but he played it coy when asked about his shortcomings during the game.
“The ball didn’t stick as well as I would have liked to,” Lloyd told reporters at his locker, adding that New England has a deep enough roster for him to get away with a bad game.
“That’s why we have such an accomplished group of pass catchers – if a guy is not having the night that he would particularly like, there are other guys who can pick up the slack,” Lloyd, who has made 35 catches for 437 yards, said. “And Tom does a great job of finding receivers and continuing to make positive plays.”
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels isn't overly concerned about Brady and Lloyd, though he did admit during a conference call that many of the missed opportunities last week were, at least indirectly, caused by a lack of chemistry.
"I think it was one of those days where we were close on some deep throws,” McDaniels said. “There were some missed opportunities there -- I’m sure Brandon would like to make some of those plays and we have to work hard in practice. I think that’s where the timing and chemistry and those deep throws that obviously have a lower percentage chance of working.