NE Patriots' Meyers scores a 'first' to much teammate acclaim

The New England Patriots scored 45 unanswered points in their rout of the Cleveland Browns, but none were celebrated more enthusiastically than the six from Jakobi Meyers as his wait for a first career receiving touchdown was ended.

Meyers' first worthy of Patriot celebrations

New England hammered the Browns' 45-7 to move to 6-4 on the year, sending a clear message to the rest of the AFC that they are legitimate postseason contenders.

It was Meyers who had the final say at Gillette Stadium, finally getting into the endzone on an 11-yard pass from Brian Hoyer after a superb performance from rookie quarterback Mac Jones had put the game well beyond doubt.

The score came in his 39th game and 135th reception for the Patriots, with Meyers' team-mates mobbing him as he registered the score his contributions to New England have long since merited. 

"I told him today, I was like, you're going to score before the game – I didn't know it was going to come from Hoyer. It was great. I was super excited," Jones told a media conference.

"We were out together and the ball [that he scored with] – I was so concerned about the ball. I was like, 'we've got to find the ball.' I guess they found it. That was good.

"But I think Jakobi is a great team-mate and he's a great team player and that's much deserved and he's going to get more. From here, hopefully we just keep stacking them up and there will be a bunch. He's a great team-mate, like I said, gets to the red zone, does his job, sometimes when he's not even getting the ball, he's in there knocking people down and just being really physical.

"We are really happy to be able to play together and hopefully we'll play together for a long time."

Asked about Jones being more eager than him to find the ball, Meyers replied: "That is a little bit weird, right? I thought so too. I was like, 'Man, I should probably do a little more to get his touchdown ball', now that I think about it.

"Honestly, the fact that everybody celebrated with me means more than the touchdown. I feel like it says a lot about your team-mates and what they think of you, and just the fact that they were all there. I know they've been waiting on that, they've been real patient."

Jones threw just four incomplete passes in one of the best displays of his young career, which saw him finish with 198 yards and three touchdowns.

"Mac always looks poised. I don't know what it is. He's just driven in different ways, wired a different way," receiver Kendrick Bourne said of Jones.

"He's just relaxed and I think that's how we all need to play. He's not thinking about the next play. He's not thinking about the last play. He's thinking about the current play.

"That mindset can take you far in this league when you have that kind of mindset. I think he has it. It's easy to dwell on the past. It's easy to get caught up on what's ahead and what's coming. He's good at just being in the moment and fixing what he's got going on right there."