German_Force » DETROIT (AP) — If Jakobi Meyers wanted to

Irving Fryar Jerseys 2019 , he could probably use his status as an undrafted rookie as motivation.Not need for that, the New England receiver says. The Patriots gave him an opportunity, and that’s who he needs to impress.“I have to keep proving to my coaches that I deserve to be here,” Meyers said. “I’m not on the team yet. I’m trying to make sure I can stay here and continue to be here. That’s who I’m trying to prove a point to, not really to people who didn’t give me the call.”Article continues below ...Meyers caught two touchdown passes in an impressive preseason debut, and the New England Patriots drubbed the Detroit Lions 31-3 on Thursday night.Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford didn’t play, and plenty of other key players were also spectators, but Meyers stood out for New England. He caught scoring passes from Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham in the second quarter and finished with six catches for 69 yards.Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman (thumb) has been sidelined for the Patriots, and Phillip Dorsett is the only other returning receiver. Meyers seems to be taking advantage of his opportunity so far.“I was getting a lot of texts about, ‘Oh I heard you were doing great in practice,'” Meyers said. “It doesn’t mean anything because we didn’t have a game yet. So just the fact that I can go out there and show that I deserve to be here White James White Jerseys , for now, I’m just trying to keep pushing forward.”Lions receiver Jermaine Kearse was carted off injured early in the first quarter, and that was the start of a dismal night for Detroit. The Lions didn’t cross midfield until the latter half of the fourth quarter, when they finally drove for a field goal. The Patriots sacked Detroit quarterbacks nine times.At the end of the third quarter, the Lions had only 41 net yards — and minus-11 passing.Hoyer went 12 of 14 for 147 yards and two touchdowns. His 14-yard strike to Maurice Harris made it 7-0 in the first quarter. Meyers then caught a 3-yard TD from Hoyer and a 5-yarder from Stidham.“I thought our overall passing game was pretty efficient,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Quarterbacks got the ball out on time. Receivers caught the ball. We protected fairly well.”Nick Brossette scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter.Lions coach Matt Patricia has been moving around on a vehicle at practice while recovering from surgery on his left leg. He did coach this game from the sideline, perched a few feet above the ground behind a handful of coolers near midfield, a safe distance from the field.“Definitely different, from that perspective for me to be kind of a little bit away from everything. I could see. My biggest goal was to try to see over everybody and see the field. I actually could see a lot on the field, which was good,” Patricia said. “It’s probably the best I could do. I can’t get too close to the action because certainly don’t want to put anybody in danger and I can’t really get out of the way myself right now.”LOW POINT?The nadir for the Lions may have come late in the second quarter James White Jerseys 2019 , when David Fales was sacked on back-to-back plays, bringing up third-and-33. Then Detroit ran the ball and received a holding penalty that was declined.“Obviously a long night here for us with the game. Not obviously how we wanted it to go,” Patricia said. “We’ve got to do a better job of going out and competing and we’ve got to do a better job of executing in the plays that we need to execute at.”BIG NIGHTOne of the first times the Detroit crowd really cheered much was after a sack by New England’s Chase Winovich, who played college football at Michigan. Winovich had 1½ sacks.INJURIESPatriots: TE Matt LaCosse walked off gingerly in the second quarter.Lions: Shortly after Kearse’s injury, QB Tom Savage appeared to be shaken up. He was able to walk off but did not return. … DT Darius Kilgo was helped off in the second quarter.NEXT UPPatriots: at Tennessee on Aug. 17.Lions: at Houston on Aug. 17. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — This one slipped out of Cleveland’s hands.On three plays in a row.The Browns turned the ball over on back-to-back-to-back plays in the first quarter on a rainy New England Sunday, leading to a pair of Patriots touchdowns that changed a three-point lead into a runaway and a 27-13 victory for the defending Super Bowl champions.“Everything that we said we couldn’t do and win the game, we did. And it all happened in the first quarter,” said coach Freddie Kitchens, who also lamented his team’s 13 penalties — six of them for false starts. “That’s what’s getting us beat, turnovers and penalties. That’s it: turnovers and penalties.”Nick Chubb ran for 131 yards White Dont’a Hightower Jersey , but he also fumbled on consecutive plays before Baker Mayfield was intercepted on a shovel pass to put Cleveland (2-5) in a hole it couldn’t get out of against the dominant New England (8-0) defense.It’s the first time a team has committed turnovers on three straight plays from scrimmage since the Dolphins did it in 2012 against the Texans. Chubb did not fumble at all in 192 carries as a rookie last year, but he has now fumbled three times in the past two games.“I’m just going through the spell right now,” he said. “The guys had my back. I was down. I was down bad. It was two in a row and that’s just something that I don’t do often, so it was kind of new to me. I feel like I let the team down, but the guys and the coaches had my back.”The Browns had just stopped New England at the 2-yard line, forcing the Patriots to settle for a field goal, when Chubb got his first carry of the day. But he was kicked in the facemask and arm by offensive lineman Joel Bitonio as he toppled over a defender, and the ball popped out.Dont’a Hightower picked it up and ran it 26 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0.After the extra point and kickoff, the Browns took over at their 40 and on the first play Chubb broke four tackles on his way to a 44-yard run. But as he approached the end zone, Jonathan Jones chased him down and punched the ball out . Devin McCourty recovered at the 4.“When it’s wet outside, you’ve got to be extra careful with the ball Dont’a Hightower Jersey 2019 ,” Mayfield said, adding: “I’m not going to say it’s all the weather; it’s not.”The Cleveland defense held. But on the first play after the New England punt, Mayfield tried a shovel pass that was intercepted by defensive end Lawrence Guy , who ran 5 yards to the 11. Two plays later, Tom Brady hit Julian Edelman for a touchdown to make it 17-0.“We had a lot of confidence going into this game, and we have a lot of confidence coming out of this game, because we understand why we lost,” Kitchens said. “They’ve got a lot of banners up there for winning the same way. I told our guys, ‘How they win is they don’t beat themselves.'”Mayfield and his team came into the season with high expectations following an 0-16 season in 2017 with a 7-8-1 record last year that was their best since 2007. But they have lost three straight games, falling three games behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.“I hate to keep saying it again, but everything’s in front of us. I still think we can turn it around White Donald Trump Jerseys ,” Mayfield said. “There’s no finger-pointing going on. That’s not the type of team we are. We know exactly what’s wrong. We know the problem.”After falling behind 17-0, the Browns made it a one-score game in the third quarter.But penalties doomed many of their drives, including back-to-back false starts that left them with a first-and-20 at the start of the fourth quarter.“I don’t think there was any moment where it was like, ‘It’s over.’ We kept fighting all game. We fought hard,” said receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who had five catches for 52 yards. “It’s not like I’m patting us on the back. We lost. There is no patting on the back.”