‘Little as s—‘: Pats coach shares colorful praise of J.J. Taylor

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No player in the NFL is shorter than the 5-foot-6 J.J. Taylor. The New England Patriots view that as a good thing.

The second-year running back enjoyed a strong preseason, averaging 7.8 yards per carry (23 rushes for 179 yards) while catching 10 passes for 62 yards over three exhibition games.

Those are impressive stats for a former undrafted free agent of Taylor's stature, but as Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears colorfully explained Wednesday, Taylor's size (or lack thereof) can be an advantage.

Taylor among NFL preseason leaders in this advanced metric

"As a runner, this son-of-a-gun, I’ll tell you what: He’s gonna cause some people some problems," Fears told reporters in a video press conference. “He’s little as s---, and people kind of find it hard to find his butt. When he goes to the line, they can’t find him.

"So that makes it exciting for him. He gets some plays that (other) guys don’t get because of his size."

Earlier this summer, Fears compared Taylor to the 5-foot-8 Dion Lewis, who excelled as an undersized change-of-pace back for New England from 2015 to 2017.

Taylor faces an uphill battle to fill that role for the 2021 Patriots with veteran James White entrenched as the No. 1 to Damien Harris' No. 2. According to Fears, there are still mistakes he needs to clean up as well. But the 23-year-old Arizona product is making progress.

"He still has those moments, but I have to admit J.J. has come a long way. A long way," Fears said. "I mean, last year we wouldn’t have thrown him into the passing game to save his ass. But right now, yeah he stepped up, and he’s made it kind of interesting for us.

" ... I think you’re gonna like this kid when he’s out there on the field."

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Taylor caught just one pass for four yards over six games last season, and he'll need to become more of a pass-catching threat in 2021 to see the field, especially with rookie Rhamondre Stevenson impressing in the running game. Taylor's 2021 preseason performance was evidence he's improved in that area.

"He’s made some great strides in the passing game," Fears added. "He’s a hell of a lot more productive as a route runner, whether we can catch him or coming out of the backfield.

"He stepped up and figured out that he’s got to learn what we do. And he still makes some crazy ass mistakes, but for the most part, he’s doing a hell of a job for us. He really is."

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