Sony Michel highly critical of his performance in NFL debut for the Patriots

Prior to Sunday, the last time Sony Michel hit the field for a game was in the National Championship Game against Alabama. Georgia came up just short in the overtime thriller, but Michel shined, rushing for 98 yards on just 14 carries.

In Michel’s first NFL game, his team lost again, and he was highly critical of his own performance.

“Not enough. Not good enough to win a game,” Michel said about his debut according to NESN.com.

Michel rushed for 34 yards on 10 attempts and added a catch for seven yards in what was his first NFL action of any kind. The rookie from Georgia underwent a procedure to drain fluid from his knee in August and missed the entire preseason.

His numbers weren’t great, but no Patriots running back performed well in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had one of the best defenses in the NFL last season. New England rushed for 82 yards and 10 of those yards came from quarterback Tom Brady on scrambling plays.

Michel also showed promise, rushing for 15 yards on a run up the middle. Quarterback Tom Brady says the young back will learn from his first NFL experience.

“Yeah, Sony always works hard, and he had a tough injury during camp and had some opportunities today, and he’ll learn from them,” Brady said. “[He] ran hard when he had some chances. He’s got some great mentors in James White and Rex [Burkhead]—those guys to learn from. So, hopefully he can keep building on what he has done.”

Here was Michel this week heading into the game. While his mindset appeared positive, he did seem unclear if he was going to be playing during the week of preparation for the game.

Sony Michel spoke with reporters for the first time since his injury pic.twitter.com/Xuxs64VTQw

— Kevin Duffy (@KevinRDuffy) September 12, 2018

Dave Holcomb

Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.