FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Patriots wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk quietly – very quietly – had an impressive NFL debut in Sunday’s win over the Bengals.

Polk was targeted just once and caught a short 6-yard pass from quarterback Jacoby Brissett, but that doesn’t tell the full story.

The rookie out of Washington actually finished fifth overall in “separation score,” a metric from the analytics company Fantasy Points Data. He was second in the NFL with a 40% win rate on routes when he was lined up outside, which accounts for 83.3% of his passing snaps, and his overall win rate was a team-high 33%.

“Those guys were doing the dirty work,” Coach Jerod Mayo said of the Patriots’ wide receivers. “And I would also say, if you turn on the film, we had guys open. And so when we go back to getting better from Week 1 to Week 2, we got to find those guys and give them an opportunity to make plays.”

If Polk has proven anything through the first four months of his NFL career, it’s that he’s a selfless player. Mayo has praised Polk’s blocking ability just as much as his receiving prowess since the wideout was drafted in the second round of the 2024 draft. Of Polk’s 35 snaps in Sunday’s game, nearly half (17) came as a run blocker.

The 22-year-old said he’s not focused on his individual numbers.

“I don’t be too focused on all that. I just do what I’m supposed to do for my team and everything else is going to come along,” Polk said. “I don’t go out there looking for certain amount of catches or a certain amount of touchdowns. That’s not me. I think the biggest focus, especially for us, is doing what our coaches ask us to do and having that mindset of winning every rep and knowing it’s going to come.”

Polk and fellow wide receivers DeMario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton and K.J. Osborn combined for just 76 yards on eight catches in a game dominated by running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

They were still pleased with the performance, however.

“I love what our group did. Didn’t have many passes but trusting the process and believe what our running back do,” Douglas said. “He did what he was supposed to do, and we came out with a good dub, a whole 11, group, whole team played a good part into that win.”

Douglas added that the win matters more “especially after the year that we had last year” when the Patriots finished just 4-13.

The Patriots used a balanced rotation at wide receiver with Osborn leading the way with 39 snaps, Douglas with 38 and Thornton with 37. Douglas (22) and Thornton (21) ran the most routes in Sunday’s game, whereas just 35.9% of Osborn’s snaps came on passing plays.

At some point, the Patriots know they’ll have to pass the ball more than just 25 times to win. When asked what the Patriots will do when a team stacks the box on them to stop the run, Mayo said laughing, “then we turn into a pass team.”

“We can’t be rigid in the way we play,” he continued. “We can’t be rigid in the way that we think. Who knows? This week, Jacoby may throw for 300 yards or Rhamondre may run for 200 yards.”

PRACTICE REPORT: Left guard Sidy Sow was the only player absent at Wednesday’s padded practice, the team’s first of the week, as he remains out with an ankle injury he suffered in the Pats’ preseason finale at Washington on Aug. 25.

Sow has not played or practiced since. Before the injury, he started at left guard in every training camp practice and all three preseason games.

The team replaced Sow with practice-squad veteran Michael Jordan at practice and in last weekend’s win at Cincinnati. Jordan played every offensive snap after getting promoted the day before the game. A fourth-round pick of the Bengals in 2019, he started his first two seasons in Cincinnati, then was released and spent another two years in Carolina before joining the Packers’ practice squad in 2023.

NOTES: Quarterback Jacoby Brissett said it’s important for the Patriots to find speedy receiver Tyquan Thornton deep, something he tried to do on the opening play of the second half in Cincinnati. “His ability to get down the field at a fast rate, we’ve definitely got to try to make the defense feel like that’s a possibility, obviously when we get chances to hit him.”