2. Doubs still has some rookie moments, but he sure looks like the No. 4 receiver behind the three veterans.
The fade pass on the opening drive was catchable and Doubs clumsily attacked it, and he stumbled before dropping a slightly low dump-off throw over the middle.
But he hauled in a deep overroute 17 yards on a nice throw from Love with two defenders closing in, and his TD was a clean one-on-one and a solid pluck of the ball down the defender’s back. With three catches for 24 yards, Doubs now has six grabs for 69 yards and two TDs in two preseason contests.
“It’s not going to be perfect,” LaFleur said. “There will be some lessons along the way. He’s a guy who’s pretty resilient. He doesn’t let a negative game upset him. He just keeps playing. That’s what excites you about him.
“He was able to break up, which is difficult to train. Guys either can or they can’t. There are certainly things to clean up, but he’s a guy we’re looking forward to. We’ll see where we are week 1.”
3. The third running back spot doesn’t necessarily have to boil down to rushing stats.
Tyler Goodson and Patrick Taylor seem to be in pretty close competition for the number 3 and both have been productive again.
Goodson broke up rushes for 9, 9 and 15 yards and caught a pass for 10 yards in a seven-game span on Love’s TD Drive before sledding behind other linemen got tougher. He finished with 42 yards on 10 carries, with LaFleur complimenting his post-game “burst.”
Taylor, the taller and stronger of the two, had no rushes longer than 5 yards but still put out 27 on eight tries.
In LaFleur’s eyes, however, the decision will lie in the third phase rather than solely on offense.
“For our third running back, a lot will depend on how they do on special teams,” he said. “That’s an area where the third defender can contribute. That’s really the struggle with all these guys at the moment.”