The announcement came Tuesday afternoon that there won’t be any fans allowed at Gillette Stadium through the month of September due to pandemic concerns..

Maybe, just maybe, that could take the pressure off a few New England Patriots receivers who may be under the spectators’ collective microscope this season.

Yes, we would be talking about second year No. 1 pick N’Keal Harry, second year undrafted wideout Jakobi Meyers and veteran Mohamed Sanu, Sr.

They were all under fire for one reason or another last season. Harry, who got hurt in a preseason game last year, didn’t look at all like a No. 1 pick, excpet for a few late flashes. Sanu made an early good impression after being traded for a second round pick, but then the Patriots made the mistake of having him return punts and he was never the same after an ankle injury.

Meyers? He was a training camp revelation, developing a great rapport with then fellow rookie Jarrett Stidham. But all he got from the great Tom Brady were scowls and stares, as that connection was really never made.

New season. Pandemic season, yeah.

“I just went into this off-season attacking and trying to improve all facets of my game,” Harry said on Tuesday. “I feel a lot better, and I slimmed down a little bit, so those are two things that helps me a lot in those (attacking) areas.”

Sanu’s a different story. He had a big game vs. the Ravens and then got hurt the next week. He had off-season surgery.

“I’m not thinking about next year,” he said. “Last year was last year; I’m just leaving it over there. … I was out there, doing what I was supposed to do. Play. But I’m just focused on this year.”

He is so intent in improving that he hired one of the coaches who was with him at Rutgers, Drew Lieberman, to live with him.

We still say Sanu was a good pickup. His first game he showed the kind of talent he has. Worth a second round pick? The early returns of course say no, but we’ll see. Sanu says he just needs to be consistent.

And he’s probably teaching Harry and Meyers a thing or two.

“I learned in the NFL you have to prove yourself day in day out,” Harry said. “That’s my approach stepping onto the field every day.”

You expect improvement; perhaps he will make that second year jump. Harry says he studied hard in the off-season, calling it “a great opportunity for me to step ahead” and came back this year more comfortable with it.

Perhaps Meyers will do the same thing. He’s not a rookie any more.

“I don’t think I have anything to prove, I would say,” he said. “Just try to get better every day, and keep showing that I can do what I need to do to stay on the team and make plays in this league with a lot of good players.”

He says he learned the game is more mental than physical, especially at his position. He has gotten bigger, which could help.

“I just need to be an overall better receiver,” he said. “They don’t want a guy who can do it just one day.”

They say all the right things. They won’t hear the jeers or cheers from the fans for the first few games as Patriot fans will scream at their TVs in September. Still, this trio needs to do the right things for the Patriots to be successful, no matter who the quarterback is.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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