FOXBORO -- About a month after the Patriots made the one-for-one deal to acquire Phillip Dorsett for Jacoby Brissett, I happened to ask Danny Amendola what he thought of the team’s newest receiver. He raised his eyebrows, smiled and said simply, “There’s nothing he can’t do.”
I followed up by asking Amendola if could see Dorsett eventually working his way into Tom Brady’s “trust tree.” Again, another smile and a nod for affirmation from Amendola.
“He’s really smart and he’s working. He’ll get there,” he told me.
However in 15 regular season games, Dorsett was infrequently targeted by Brady, only getting 18 balls thrown his way and catching a dozen of them. That trend continued in the postseason but to his credit, the former first round pick out of the University of Miami made them count, with a big catch in both the AFC Title game win over the Jaguars then again in the narrow Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
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With the departures of both Amendola and Brandin Cooks, Dorsett has a chance to carve out a bigger role for himself. As one of the few players with experience in the system, it appears he’ll get that opportunity while guys like Kenny Britt (still on PUP), Jordan Matthews, Braxton Berrios and others try to enter the equation.
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“That’s what football is all about,” said Dorsett when I spoke to him. “It’s going out there having fun competing. Every day in life is a competing, at least to me. It’s not just being here out on the field. It’s how i do everything. My dad instilled that in me a long time ago and I’m still having fun with it.”
Dorsett has spent some time working out of the slot here early in training camp. That’s not a role he’s often found himself in. With sprinter’s speed, the 25 year old has been typecast, expecting to fill a role similar to the one Donte’ Stallworth did when he was in New England during the 2007-08 season. Not so fast says Dorsett.
“I can do it,” he told me of playing in the slot. “A lot of people in the past - a lot of coaches - have used me as a vertical receiver because of my speed but I also have quickness. Hopefully I can play well there and show them (the coaching staff).”
That would be an important discovery for the Pats, who must go the first four games without Julian Edelman (PED suspension). With Amendola also gone, there is no natural fit for the slot. Dorsett showed good quickness coming in and out of breaks last year and unlike someone like Cooks, who did some slot work in college, seems to have no fear about going over the middle.
“I feel comfortable playing any position on the field and on any portion of the field,” he said. “That’s what I feel I’m good at: knowing the offense overall, not just learning one position. If I know every position then I can go wherever I need to be. I’m that guy. That’s how i like to do it.”