Measuring Patriots wideout Jakobi Meyers’ preseason marks

Jakobi Meyers has accounted for a quarter of the completions thrown by Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham this preseason. He’s accounted for a quarter of their yards as well as half their touchdowns.

Meyers, an undrafted rookie who doesn’t look like one, is in rare August air.

The air got rarer when the New England Patriots met the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium. No Patriots wide receiver not named Meyers collected more than a single pass from the quarterbacks.

One wide receiver named Meyers, on the other hand, caught six.

The North Carolina State product played from the opening series to the closing series en route to 82 yards and a two-point conversion.

“He has just done a great job,” Hoyer, once an undrafted free agent himself, said of Meyers during his postgame press conference. “Even going back to OTAs I remember him making some big plays, and you are kind of looking like, ‘All right, this kid is making some plays.’ He has just continued to build on that and build on that. He has worked really hard. It is paying off for him.”

“He’s a heck of a player,” added Stidham, a fourth-round pick this April. “He’s been fun to get to know and to play with, and, you know, we’re rookies together so it’s been fun to grow together.”

Meyers now stands with 12 receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage at the halfway mark of New England’s preseason.

All three categories have already surpassed the team’s preseason leader from a year ago, Cordarrelle Patterson, and are trending back farther.

Meyers is just 37 yards away from matching Brian Tyms’ summer of 2014. He’s also just three catches away from matching Chris Harper’s 2015 for the most over New England’s previous handful of summers.

As for his two receiving touchdowns thus far? They tie for the franchise’s exhibition high over nearly the past decade.

The well-traveled Chris Hogan caught a pair for scores during the 2017 preseason. Tyms and running back Shane Vereen both did the same in 2014. As did Tennessee-Martin’s Quentin Sims in 2013.

But Rob Gronkowski was the most recent Patriot to catch more than two touchdowns during the preseason.

The tight end out of Arizona came down with four as a rookie in 2010. New England was still sporting Reebok jerseys then.

It’s been a while.

Only Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Tanner Hudson’s 13 receptions rank ahead of Meyers’ dozen this preseason. The former two-star quarterback recruit ranks third in the NFL in receiving yards behind Hudson’s 177 and Pittsburgh Steelers wideout James Washington’s 162.

Meyers is also one of just eight targets leaguewide with two receiving touchdowns heading into the dress rehearsal.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, honestly,” Meyers told reporters in the locker room following New England’s 22-17 win on Saturday. “I’m going to just keep fighting, keep pushing, keep grinding. Hopefully I’ll come out on top.”

Meyers is heading that way. Even if his marks aren’t added to until after Labor Day.

He’s played 97 of the offensive snaps to this point. He’s played his way onto a roster that will soon go to 53.