In Two-Touchdown Game, New England Patriots Rookie Tyquan Thornton Makes The Difficult Look Easy

Speed has a way of being relative. That was the case Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. Tyquan Thornton made the difficult look easy there in just his second game since being activated from injured reserve.

The fractured clavicle that sidelined the New England Patriots rookie since August did not slow his 40-yard-dash time of 4.28 seconds come October. It did not slow his integration into the offense much, either. With Nelson Agholor out due to a hamstring injury and Kendrick Bourne soon sidelined due to a toe injury, only Jakobi Meyers and DeVante Parker played more offensive snaps among the wide receivers.

On the field for 40 out of the 70 plays against the Cleveland Browns was Thornton. He made them count with a suddenness that often appeared effortless for those not involved with covering his 6-foot-2, 182-pound frame.

The first touchdown of the Baylor product’s NFL career arrived with sharp footwork from the slot opposite cornerback Greedy Williams in the third quarter. He stuttered left, released right and slanted across the middle with his hand raised and his separation gaining.

Former Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky record-setting quarterback Bailey Zappe found him from the sidearm on the second read in his progression. The result of the third-and-goal was a 17-6 lead.

In franchise history, it marked the first time that New England had logged a rookie-to-rookie touchdown since quarterback Drew Bledsoe found wide receiver Vincent Brisby during the 1993 season finale. But another visit to the end zone came in the final quarter on Sunday.

And this time, with a key block from tight end Hunter Henry, on a jet sweep that spanned 19 yards and left defensive backs Martin Emerson Jr., Grant Delpit and John Johnson III distant in the rearview mirror.

With that, according to Stathead, the 22-year-old Thornton became the first rookie wideout to score a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the same game during his head coach’s Patriots tenure.

“We had him last week, too, but it’s good to have him out there,” Bill Belichick said during his appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Monday morning. “It’s good to have everybody out there that we have. We’re missing some guys that are working had to get back, and it’ll be good to see them back out there. … But it’s nice to have Tyquan there, and he made a couple big plays for us yesterday.”

The No. 50 overall pick in April’s NFL draft had caught two passes for seven yards in his debut the week prior versus the Detroit Lions. He finished the 38-15 win in Cleveland with four receptions for 37 yards and three rushes for 16 yards.

Involvement in the screen game, the play-action game and the clear-out game would also be seen over that sample size by Thornton, whose rookie contract begins with a $705,000 base salary and $1.282 million cap number.

It was the next step. But for some accelerators, those steps are measured differently.

The Chicago Bears visit Gillette Stadium for an 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff next Monday.