FOXBORO – Rhamondre Stevenson is the most explosive player on the Patriots’ offense. But he’s struggled with one small problem this season – the fumble problem.

This is a fairly new problem for Stevenson. In his 41 games prior to the 2024 season, he had only four fumbles and lost only two of them. The running back had just one fumble in his 156 carries last season.

The 26-year-old had shown some sure hands entering his fourth NFL season, but Stevenson has now committed a fumble in all three games to start the 2024 season, including one recovered by the New York Jets in their 24-3 win over the Patriots on Thursday night.

It happened on New England’s first play of the fourth quarter, when Jets safety Chuck Clark knocked the ball out of Stevenson’s hands, giving New York possession at the New England 37-yard line. Stevenson didn’t take another snap in the remaining 14 minutes of the game, managing just 23 yards on his six carries.

That’s not the kind of performance the Patriots expected after Stevenson rushed for 201 yards in the first two weeks of the season. Although he dropped the ball in both games, the opposing defense recovered the ball for the first time on Thursday night. The Jets converted that mistake into a field goal.

Letting go of the ball is not a trend Stevenson wants to continue, and he said he hasn’t had to make any adjustments other than the most obvious one.

“I have to keep it simple,” he said after Thursday’s defeat.

It doesn’t sound like Patriots coaches are too worried about it, either, although offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt did throw out the old “ball security is job security” cliché during his video conference with reporters on Friday. He said the team will put an “intense focus” on good ball-handling habits in practice before New England’s Week 4 game against the 49ers in San Francisco.

Van Pelt added that after three plays with a fumble, opposing defenses will try to take advantage of Stevenson’s problems with the ball.

“Now he’s become a target,” Van Pelt said. “Teams will see that and go after the ball.”

“I know he’ll take care of it,” Van Pelt added. “I know he’s proud of it. We’ve done a really good job of not giving the ball away in this scenario so far. He’ll be even better for it.”

Stevenson’s lost fumble on Thursday was New England’s first turnover this season.