Patriots player Rhamondre Stevenson gives simple answer to disturbing trend

It was a rough first three weeks of the season for New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who also failed to understand his task in the 24-3 loss to the New York Jets on Thursday night: holding onto the ball. Plain and simple.

Stevenson fumbled for the third straight game in as many weeks and paid the price after getting two free throws from Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo. In Week 1, Stevenson’s fumble was overshadowed by New England’s upset win over Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 2, Stevenson was overruled in the storylines category because of a controversy involving the Seattle Seahawks’ overtime referees. A third strike, however, put Stevenson in the spotlight at MetLife Stadium, even if he had few words to say about it.

“I’ve got to hold the ball,” Stevenson told reporters after New England’s Week 3 loss, according to a video provided by the team. “I just have to hold it.”

When Stevenson lost the ball against Cincinnati and Seattle, New England’s offense managed to recover the ball and clean up the 26-year-old. Stevenson’s bailout card expired in New York when Jets safety Chuck Clark ripped the ball out of his hands, quickly turning the Patriots’ third drive of the fourth quarter into a stunning turnover. The score was 21-3 with 14:02 left to play, but Stevenson’s third fumble was the biggest gut punch to backfire for New England so far this season.

From that point on, Stevenson was done for, managing just 23 yards on six carries, a season-low, which negatively impacts Stevenson’s average rushing yards per game of 100.5 that he started with in Week 3. Additionally, he didn’t get on the field for another snap as the Patriots continue to weather the hard-to-watch New York storm, falling to 1-2 on the season.

“We just have to watch the film, go through it all again and figure it out,” Stevenson added, according to a video provided by the team. “Figure out how to win.”