Strong connection between Hunter Henry, Mac Jones continues to pay dividends for Patriots

FOXBORO – It is fitting that it has turned out this way. After all, they are neighbors.

And those neighbors, which happened to be rookie quarterback Mac Jones and veteran tight end Hunter Henry, continue to show their close proximity off the field has led to a strong connection on the field.

The two teamed up in a big way Sunday when the New England Patriots routed the Cleveland Browns, 45-7, at Gillette Stadium for their fourth consecutive win as Jones connected with Henry twice on two of his three touchdown passes.

It was a bit of a slow start to the season for the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Henry, who signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract to join the Patriots this offseason after spending five seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. Henry only had five receptions through two games and didn’t reach the end zone in any of the first three contests, but has turned it on as of late with at least one touchdown grab in six of the last seven games.

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For Henry, he credited the success to the rapport he has cultivated with Jones since the season started.

“There is a lot of work that is put in throughout the week,” Henry said. “I think that’s continuing to grow as you see as the season has progressed. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. Everybody else sees the stuff that goes on when we’re playing but there is a lot of work that builds up to that. All that stuff is kind of paying off week by week and we just have to continue to improve and get better every day and take advantage of those opportunities.”

Signing Henry on the second day of free agency was a necessary move given the lack of production the Patriots have received from the tight end position since Rob Gronkowski left the organization.

Last year, the tight end trio of Devin Asiasi, Dalton Keene and Ryan Izzo produced a combined 18 catches for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Henry has easily surpassed those figures just 10 games into this season with 31 receptions for 353 yards and seven touchdowns, just one score shy of tying his career high he set as a rookie in 2016.

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Henry’s presence has been felt most in the red zone, an area the Patriots struggled in immensely last year. Both of Henry’s touchdown receptions against the Browns came from three yards out as he was able to create substantial separation in a tight space on both grabs.

On his first trip to the end zone, he beat safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. on a corner route before making a toe-tapping catch and then on his second touchdown, Henry faked out safety John Johnson III like he was going to turn outside to set up an easy pitch-and-catch with Jones, who completed 19-of-23 passes for 198 yards in the win.

“I think just with the red zone, we always have a good plan with (offensive coordinator) Josh (McDaniels), and he does a really good job scheming everybody up,” Jones said. “My job is to get it to the person that's supposed to get the ball, and Hunter does a great job getting open and he has a really good feel for red zone offense and running routes and blocking and finding his little spot in the zone or in the end zone.”

Henry’s production hasn’t come as a surprise to his teammates. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers noticed Henry’s talent right away when some members of the Patriots met out on the west coast to train during the offseason.

And Meyers believes Henry’s skillset will only lead to more success for the tight end and the Patriots.

“I remember when I first saw Hunter running routes. I think we were in California, and we were just playing around, and I kind of knew he would be somebody special,” Meyers said. “Just his ability to get open. I need to take some pointers from him, the way he does it so consistently. He’s got real soft hands, real crispy routes, so I feel like this is just the beginning, honestly.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Rapport of Hunter Henry, Mac Jones on display in win over Browns