FOXBORO — Rhamondre Stevenson is ready for the future.
The Patriots’ top running back told the Herald he’s fully recovered from the high ankle sprain he suffered on Dec. 3 against the Chargers that wiped out the remainder of his season. Stevenson, at that point, led the Pats in both rushing and receiving. The 25-year-old overcame a slow start to again emerge as the Patriots’ best offensive player, but couldn’t remedy all of their issues or explain how the team finished 4-13.
“I honestly don’t know. I really don’t know,” Stevenson said Monday in the locker room. “I feel like we had it on paper. We had the pieces to be at least. like, an 8-9 or a 9-8 team. I don’t know what went wrong.”
Stevenson owned up to his early struggles, when he broke tackles at one of the lowest rates in the league among running backs through mid-October. He failed to crack 100 total yards in a single game until November, when he finally found his old, powerful form. On the season, he finished with 619 rushing yards and four touchdowns at a 4.0 yards per carry average, plus 38 catches.
Some of Stevenson’s lack of productivity can be pinned on an offensive line that dealt with constant churn up front, including late-round rookie guards and backup tackles all being thrust into starting spots. But when Stevenson recently studied his own tape, he left feeling mostly satisfied with his performance — save for one exception.
“I think I could have finished runs a little bit better, just watching the film. And I did that last week. I watched all my plays,” Stevenson told the Herald. “And I think I could have finished some runs a little bit better. But other than that, I think I made good progress, and did what I could throughout the season.”
A 2021 fourth-round pick, Stevenson now heads into a critical contract year. He will be extension eligible this offseason for the first time in his career. It’s unknown whether the Patriots will pursue an extension with him before next season, as they did with another fourth-round pick — James White — back in 2017.
History seems to be against Stevenson, though. Over the last 25 years, White and Kevin Faulk are the only drafted Patriots running backs to earn a second contract in New England. As for his mindset heading into next season, Stevenson echoed comments he made back in September when asked about the difference fans would see in his game compared to a breakout 2022 campaign.
“Just relentlessness,” he said. “Just being the best I could be, being that leader and being someone that someone wants to pay.”