FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tight end Martellus Bennett isn’t a one-trick pony. Aside from playing quarterback, he’s done nearly everything for the New England Patriots’ offense in the first four games of the season. He’s been used as an extra offensive lineman, a receiver and even a running back.
Bennett has a Pro Bowl to his name in his nine years so he’s not completely catching the NFL by surprise, but his presence in this offense has added another dangerous element that’s driving opponents crazy.
Of note for Sunday's game at Cleveland
n The Patriots are an NFL-best 49-17 in October since 2000.
n Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is tied with Curly Lambeau for fourth on the NFL’s career list with 226 regular-season victories, trailing only Don Shula (328), George Halas (318) and Tom Landry (250). Belichick went 36-44 as Browns head coach from 1991-95.
n Brady’s appearance will give him 17 seasons with one team, tying him with John Brodie (San Francisco) and Dan Marino (Miami) for most by a quarterback.
n Brady enters the 2016 season fifth on the career yards list with 58,028. He’s tied with Peyton Manning with four seasons of 35 or more TDs.
n RB LeGarrette Blount ranks third in the NFL with 352 yards rushing.
n TE Rob Gronkowski has 65 receiving TDs since 2010, most in the NFL at the position.
n The Browns lead the league in rushing yards (597) and average per carry (5.74). Isaiah Crowell is second in the league with 386 yards, the most in the first four games for Cleveland since Jim Brown (476) in 1965.
– Associated Press
Bennett’s time in New England also has pleased his mother, Penny Bennett.
“It’s been fun. My mom enjoys it,” Bennett said. “My mom’s like, ‘I like you on the Patriots. I get to see everything you’re capable of. Other teams, they don’t let you do everything you can do.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, Mom.’ She liked it when I ran the ball the other week. She said, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s nice. I knew you could do that. You did it in high school; you did it here.’
“My mom really enjoys that. I enjoy that as well, being diverse, and here, the best thing about it is everything matters. Making a good block is praised as much as a great catch. That makes it a little bit easier because there’s not a greater emphasis on any part or phase of the game. It’s like every single part, everyone cares about.”
So far, Bennett has succeeded with every job the Patriots have asked him to do.
In Week 1 against the Cardinals, he was asked to be essentially a seventh offensive lineman and help Cameron Fleming deal with outside linebacker Chandler Jones. He caught just three passes for 14 yards. But the next week, against Miami, Bennett was one of the focal points. He caught five passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.
In Week 3 the Patriots went run-heavy and Bennett was asked to block on many plays. He caught two passes for 2 yards and also had his first NFL carry, for 6 yards. Last weekend against Buffalo, he was back to making defensive players look silly with five catches for 109 yards.
The Pats mainly use him on the offensive line as a tight end (82 percent of the time), but he’s also lined up as a receiver outside (11 percent) and the slot (7 percent).
Bennett played in 119 games over eight seasons before arriving in Foxboro. Prior to becoming a Patriot, he had two career games with more than 100 receiving yards. In four games this season, he has two.
His next opponent, the Cleveland Browns, have taken notice.
“He is tough. He is strong. He can run routes. To me he is a ferocious blocker,” said Coach Hue Jackson. “He’s one of the best players in my opinion that is kind of unknown at his position in the National Football League because the guy can run routes with anybody. He can catch the ball. He’s one of the tight ends in the National Football League that can block, whether it’s outside linebackers or defensive ends – it doesn’t matter. He has that makeup, he has that body strength and structure, and he’s as good as there is.”
Over the first four weeks, the Patriots have missed significant pieces of their offense in quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski. Although Gronkowski has played the past two games, he’s been held back with a hamstring injury and has one catch.
But as much as the offense could have suffered without both stars, the emergence of Bennett helped greatly. Asked about Jackson’s comments about his being unknown, Bennett said he doesn’t feel like he’s been sneaking up on opponents since he’s played this way over nine years.
“I think a lot of players respect me,” Bennett said. “I think a lot of it comes from the media, promoting guys as players; they can do this and do that, but me – people don’t like to play against me. Once I see that, that makes me feel very, very good about the way I’m playing and the way I should go about it.
“People really don’t know who I am or what I’ve done for the last couple of years. They’ll say, ‘Oh, you’re playing so well the last couple of years’ – I’ve caught like 200-and-something balls – so I don’t really care. I just do it every week and check, check, check what’s on the to-do list and go about it the next week.”
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