Patriots pick on Richard Sherman during his season debut

Richard Sherman made his season debut on Sunday, and the New England Patriots wasted no time picking on him.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Sherman on Wednesday. He was a free agent and dealt with an offseason arrest, but the Bucs ended up signing him amid a rash of injuries.

Without cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean unavailable, the Bucs started Sherman against the Patriots. Mac Jones went right after Sherman like he was targeting a rookie and had a great deal of success throwing against him in coverage.

According to @NextGenStats, Mac Jones is 7-of-7 for 74 yards when CB Richard Sherman is the nearest defender. Sherman also has a DPI penalty.

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 4, 2021

Sherman looked like a guy who only signed on Wednesday. He was constantly a step slow and got beat regularly.

Check out the filthy release by Jakobi Meyers on Richard Sherman. Dusted him. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/CO4jV9rQCq

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) October 4, 2021

At least Sherman had a fumble recovery in the third quarter. And from his standpoint, things probably could not get much worse.