New England Patriots
“I just look forward to continuously improving and moving on to what’s next.”
Romeo Doubs recorded 96 receiving yards on Sunday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
September 20, 2026 | 6:28 PM
3 minutes to read
Romeo Doubs, like most of his Patriots teammates, had a night to forget in Seattle in Week 1.
The Patriots wideout — who signed a four-year, $68 million contract with New England in March — finished with zero catches off three targets in that season-opening game against the Seahawks.
One of those targets — an ill-advised heave from Drake Maye in double coverage — resulted in a fourth-quarter interception.
The second was a dropped pass from Doubs, squandering an opportunity for the wideout to pick up 20-plus yards and push New England into Seattle territory.
The very next play? Another costly interception from Maye over the middle.
As disheartening as that debut was, Doubs had little time to dwell on that performance — especially with the former Packer expected to hold court as New England’s de facto WR1 with A.J. Brown on the mend with a high-ankle sprain.
The soft-spoken receiver didn’t want to revisit Seattle on Thursday when asked about his play earlier this month.
“I appreciate the question, but what happened in the past must stay in the past,” Doubs told reporters, including Christopher Price of The Boston Globe. “So, thank you.”
And in his first game in Foxborough as a Patriot, Doubs did his part to leave that rough debut in the rearview mirror.
He didn’t find the end zone, but Doubs was one of the few conduits of explosive plays for New England’s offense in Sunday’s 20-3 win over the Steelers — reeling in three catches for a career-high 96 yards in the win.
It was a welcome sight for the Patriots and Mike Vrabel, who pushed back against Doubs being the one put under a microscope following New England’s Week 1 setback at Lumen Field.
“Rome dropped one ball last week in the first game, and I’ve seen ‘Oh, he dropped three passes.’ I don’t think he dropped three passes; he dropped one. We get back to work. People drop passes, people miss tackles, you guys just don’t see it all the time,” Vrabel said. “You guys see the drops and the easy ones.
“Rome got back to work, worked extremely hard. We’ll get back and we’ll coach him, but going up and trusting your hands and staying focused and all those things that are critical.”
On an afternoon where Maye and New England’s passing game struggled to get into a rhythm, and the Patriots found some success in the ground game (4.9 yards per carry), Doubs capitalized whenever called upon — taking advantage of some lax coverage from Pittsburgh in the process.
Doubs’ top play of the afternoon came in the third quarter, with Maye scrambling away from pressure in the end zone and uncorking a throw down the field before getting hit by defensive end Keeanu Benton.
An uncovered Doubs made the Steelers pay, snagging the throw from Maye and making it all the way to the Steelers’ 29-yard line. Even the mild-mannered and oftentimes stoic Doubs couldn’t help but yell along with an energized Gillette Stadium crowd after reeling in the catch.
With Brown out of the equation for at least a month, Maye will need to continue to rely heavily on Doubs over the coming weeks as a reliable playmaker for an offense that has been marred by sustained stretches of inefficient play so far this season.
“I think [if] I maybe put it out in front a little more, he may have scored,” Maye said of Doubs. “But no, good to get some big plays. We had some big runs, and that’s the thing with us, we feel like the more plays we can have and pick up first downs, the more the explosive plays and big plays will come.
“We’ve got guys, we’ve got a great coaching staff that gets in the right stuff, and we’ve just go to go execute it. It’s nice seeing that, but at the same time, can’t follow up those plays with negative ones or being at a yardage where we feel like we’re at an advantage and have something push us back or penalties. It’s just the little things, it starts with me doing them better and making them more important, and I think that’s the big thing.”
Doubs will be counted on once again next Sunday to help move the chains against a stingy Jaguars defense in Jacksonville. But for Doubs, it’s just one day at a time, and little time spent dwelling on the past — both good and bad.
“I thought the day was productive. … I just look forward to continuously improving and moving on to what’s next,’ Doubs declared.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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