Ja’Lynn Polk gets rookie season back on track with touchdown catch vs. Bears
“We never doubted him in the locker room. I think that's important."
Ja’Lynn Polk’s rookie season hasn’t gone according to plan.
New England drafted the talented wideout in the second round (No. 37 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft in hopes of pairing him with the team’s new franchise QB in Drake Maye.
But Polk has suffered numerous setbacks during the 2024 campaign, be it struggles on the field or distractions of his own doing away from the gridiron.
Entering Sunday’s game against the Bears, Polk had only recorded 10 catches for just 78 yards and a single touchdown.
Drops have been an issue for the Washington product, prompting Jerod Mayo to take the rookie to task and urge him to get over this “mental hump”.
Undaunted, Polk pushed back against his coach’s comments — telling MassLive’s Mark Daniels last month that he wasn’t “dealing with [any] mental problems at all” and had “the best hands in the league.”
He followed that up with zero catches off of three targets in New England’s loss to the Jaguars in London, eventually exiting the game with a concussion. He created more of a stir postgame by posting a cryptic message on his Instagram featuring a black screen with “…” to go along with a peace sign.
After missing New England’s win over the Jets in Week 8, Polk finished with zero catches (with two penalties) in the Patriots’ OT loss to the Titans last week.
Entering Sunday’s game against the Bears, Polk was already bordering on the label of “bust” just past the midway point of the 2024 campaign.
But Sunday’s win in Chicago stood as a much-needed step in the right direction for Polk, who managed to reel in New England’s lone touchdown of the afternoon in what was a 19-3 win over the Bears.
“It means a lot to get the touchdown,” Polk said after the victory. “But I think it’s more important and feels a lot better that we were able to go out there and play as a team and fight through adversity, have a belief in one another just to go out there and get a win.”
Polk’s touchdown snag was a welcome sight for both the struggling rookie and a Pats receiver corps that has been unable to find traction all season long. As Polk danced in the end zone after snagging Drake Maye’s two-yard pass, most of the team made its way down near the end zone to congratulate him.
“That’s pretty cool. A second-round pick. JP, he’s finding it,” Maye said after the game. “I think he’s going to be a great player. I hope that touchdown gives him a lot of confidence and he’ll make some plays for us.”
The Patriots have a long way to go if they want to reassert themselves as contenders. But the continued development of a young wideout like Polk into a reliable receiving threat for Maye would be a welcome sight during a rebuilding campaign.
The 22-year-old receiver still has an uphill climb when it comes to quieting the doubters amid a rough start to his NFL career.
But Mayo joined the chorus of Patriots personnel who believe that Sunday’s win at Soldier Field could stand as a positive jumping-off point for the second-round pick.
“It was great. With young players, you never know where that inflection point is going to come,” Mayo said of Polk. “You never know when that switch is going to flip. And hopefully this is the start of him being a very good receiver in this league.
“We never doubted him in the locker room. I think that’s important. It’s been a lot of outside noise, and he’s had to deal with the outside noise. But when it’s all said and done, if you go out and do it on the field, it’s not much people can say.”
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