Image courtesy of Athlon Sports
FOXBOROUGH – For the last four seasons, many of us have thought Demario ‘Pop’ Douglas would be a major factor in the offense.
And for the last four years, it hasn’t really come to fruition, other than a few times here and there in spurts.
Through eight games this season, Douglas has 26 catches for 332 yards and four touchdowns. In both 2024 and 2025, he had three total touchdowns and he didn’t have any his rookie season.
Are we finally starting to see Douglas become a legitimate threat in this offense?
Last Sunday in the win over Miami, the catch-and-run Pop had for a 48-yard touchdown was another brief display of his explosiveness when he gets in space. Following the game, Douglas said he needed to “trust his speed more.”
How can someone that fast in the NFL not trust his God-given speed? What goes into trusting it more?
I asked Douglas in the locker room earlier this week.
“I think just believing in it,” he said. “Sometimes, you know, you have the fear of getting hawked down or something like that. The vets I had my rookie year always being funny, so I feel like I need to just believe in my speed more and run. That will cure a lot.”
Those veterans Douglas referred to from 2023 included Kendrick Bourne, JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker and Jalen Reagor.
“They would just be funny all the time,” Douglas continued. “Like if you got caught and tackled, they’d be like ‘Oh! You’re slow!’ and stuff like that. So, I’m used to trying to avoid that. I definitely just got to believe in myself.”
Douglas believes in himself whole-heartedly during practice, but getting a chance to make plays in games is where he could start to flourish for an offense in desperate need of someone in the receiver room to step up with the absence of Romeo Doubs and A.J. Brown.
“In practice I do it all the time,” he added. “You know, I feel like for my game, the game reps, I’ve just got to do it how I do it in practice. It just helps gain more confidence. It’s a me thing, for sure.”
Douglas’ teammates and coaches certainly believe in him, particularly because of his work ethic.
Drake Maye had high praise for Pop during the week.
“He’s always smiling. Yeah, he’s just a joy to be out there with,” said Maye. “You’re talking about what I was just talking about, of just the pressure and how much this game is, you’re so locked in and want to play well. He’s a reminder of having fun in it. I can imagine every kid watching Pop and every Patriots fan, it’s hard. I was telling somebody the other day, it’s hard not to love a teammate like Pop. He’s just, as you guys know, being in the locker room, he’s constantly the same.
“He’s always laughing and smiling. I love when he starts dancing in the end zone. We got him in the end zone a couple times this year, and like I said, he can turn an easy catch and he’s hard to tackle. So, like I’ve always said, you can’t guard him in a phone booth, so he’s fun.
“We’ve got to get him the ball in space more and let him go do his thing because he’s fun to watch.”
Josh McDaniels echoed many of the same sentiments.
“Tremendous energy. Unbelievable personality,” McDaniels said. “Great preparation. Young player, but not in the way that he prepares and goes about his job. He’s a detailed guy. He practices hard on every play and I love that about him. He gives great effort. It’s easy as a quarterback…those are the kind of guys I think you probably enjoy throwing to the most because every rep you take is a realistic repetition. It’s not like, ‘was he going 807?’ He’s always going 100%. Whatever he has, he’s going.
“He takes great care of his body, which allows him to be out there on the field for every play in practice. That allows him to improve. I think one of the things with Pop, is he’s the smallest guy we have and he might be our best blocker. He gives tremendous effort. He’s a great finisher. Everybody saw the block a handful of weeks ago on TreVeyon’s long touchdown. He does that every day in practice and then he does it in the game.
“He’s got tremendous habits. His energy is infectious and I’m glad to see him get in the chicken box last week.”
It would behoove Maye and McDaniels to start seeing if they can get Douglas in the chicken box more often, as this finally feels like his time to shine.