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Patriots rookie takes on double duty in rare display during preseason win

Boston Herald · Doug Kyed · 2026-08-23T03:52:51+00:00 · nguồn gốc

FOXBORO — Behren Morton learned that NFL players are faster than Texas high schoolers on Saturday night. Morton, a quarterback by trade, was called on to serve as an emergency punter during Saturday night’s preseason win over the Eagles. Morton said Saturday night that he hadn’t punted in a game since high school. At halftime, he said he got some pointers from Patriots punter Bryce Baringer, who was dealing with an injury, because the Eagles’ punt block team was coming faster than he had experienced punting at Eastland (Texas) High School, and it caught him by surprise. It was a shock to see Morton back to punt in the first half, because Baringer stayed on the sideline in a helmet and continued to hold for kicker Andy Borregales. “Well, I just assume all the quarterbacks, they do their little punt thing and see how close they can get it to the goal line, so I figured he could punt,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game. “Bryce wasn’t feeling great after the first two punts, so I figured instead of risking anything there with Bryce or with Andy, that Behren was able to get us out of there.” Morton punted three times for 133 yards. Oh, he also led the Patriots on a game-winning drive and fourth-quarter comeback at quarterback, hitting rookie wide receiver Nick DeGennaro for a 37-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in Saturday’s game to go up 24-21. But that comes with the territory of being a quarterback. Typically, unless you’re Tom Tupa or Danny White, punting does not. “Coach came up to me and just said that if we got a punt on this drive, you’re going out there,” Morton said. “I was pretty cold at the time, so I went under the net, hit a few balls. I asked Ash (long snapper Julian Ashby), ‘How far do I need to stand back?’ He told me 15 yards and catch the ball and just put it down there. Coach (Jeremy) Springer did a good job of lining me up. He said, ‘Just hit it middle, and then we’ll make corrections as we go.'” Morton said he was the backup punter during his time at Texas Tech. He also punted and kicked at his pro day to show teams what he could offer. The rookie seventh-rounder, who’s impressed during training camp, finished Saturday’s game 13-of-17 for 129 yards with the game-winning touchdown pass. “It was a long drive,” Morton said. “It was hats off to the offensive line, keeping me safe, keeping me upright. Nick had a great release, kind of avoided the corner, looked like Cover 2, so kind of put it on the line, where it was him or nobody, didn’t want to put in a dangerous way, but Nick made a great play.” If he makes the 53-man roster, then Morton could serve as the Patriots’ emergency third QB. He could not punt in an emergency, however. If serving as the emergency third QB, he could only enter a game if starter Drake Maye and backup Tommy DeVito both suffered injuries.