FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It turns out some things are beyond even Tom Brady’s magic touch.
One of those things is the Patriots’ current receiving corps, whose general ineptitude in a 13-10 victory over the Jets on Thursday night had the normally unflappable quarterback cursing like he was in a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Brady is famous for making the most of talent-challenged receivers, of course, but there was no making chicken salad this time out of the motley crew left behind at the moment by injuries, free-agent defections and Aaron Hernandez’s murder charge.
Reduced to veteran special-teamer Julian Edelman as his No. 1 receiver while hapless rookies Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins dropped just about everything thrown to them, Brady, even in victory, was the picture of frustration while completing just 19 of 39 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown.
It was the first time since the 2009 season Brady completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in a game.
The famously demanding quarterback got so mad, in fact, that the NFL Network cameras caught him dropping an F-bomb at the top of his lungs on the sideline in the second quarter after Thompkins — an undrafted free agent — apparently ran the wrong route, costing the Patriots a touchdown.
Even the driving rainstorm that hit Gillette Stadium at halftime and lingered through the second half couldn’t excuse the general helplessness of any New England receiver not named Edelman.
Brady had so little confidence in Dobson and Thompkins by the second half, he basically just looked at Edelman on every play.
Edelman, a former college quarterback, who began the night with just 75 career catches in four NFL seasons, ended up with a career-high 13 receptions for 78 yards while filling the lead receiver role for Week 1 star Danny Amendola.
How locked in on Edelman was Brady? He targeted the receiver a whopping 18 times on the night.
Brady might have to get used to that, too, considering Amendola reportedly will miss up to six weeks because of a severe groin strain suffered in the Patriots’ Week 1 win over the Bills.
Rob Gronkowski appears ready to return from offseason back surgery any day now, and Brady no doubt will welcome his Pro Bowl tight end back with a long hug after Thursday night’s woes.
And to think, the evening actually began in promising fashion for Brady and the Patriots’ receivers as Dobson — a second-round pick from Marshall — got behind the Jets’ defense on a beautiful play-fake and hauled in a 39-yard TD pass to give New England a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game.
But then came the parade of drops, as Dobson and Thompkins combined to catch just five of the 17 passes directed at them (for a total of 103 yards). There was no way to keep track of all the dirty looks from Brady.