Aaron Dobson

New England Patriots wide receiver Aaron Dobson tries, but can't pull in a pass from Tom Brady during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

(AP)

On the 75th page of a New England Patriots playbook from the Super Bowl years, there is a play listed under the heading, "Gun Empty Left – 75 Double Seam Y Jerk."

No single element of its outcome is certain.

Following the trails will get you nowhere. Each one ends with a fork in the road, with nothing to indicate which one should be traveled.

The two outside receivers are directed to run 14-yard stops, then continue into fade routes if they beat their defenders at the line of scrimmage – or if the defense shows something to make the fade preferable.

The "X" receiver is supposed to run a seam read, which allows him to either continue up the seam or break off into a deep slant depending on how the middle of the field is being covered. The "Z" receiver has a similar assignment, though he may curl off depending on what he sees.

The "Y" receiver can run a crossing route to either the left or right. He can also curl off his route over the middle of the field.

Page after page is filled with diagrams of similar plays containing solid lines, with dotted ones emerging in all directions. On some, a receiver can go any of four directions. Rarely, if ever, are all the receivers sent on a definitive course.

It's complicated. It's complex. And it usually arrives as something completely foreign to first-timers thumbing through the playbook.

"At times, there are four decisions a receiver needs to make after the snap the way our offense is," wide receivers coach Chad O'Shea said prior to Super Bowl XLVI. "That's one of the advantages of our offense, that we give players a lot of flexibility within the system to take what the defense gives us."

For those who can calculate all possible outcomes and make the proper decisions, the freedom can be hugely advantageous. For others, it can feel like an undertow. Many receivers have tried to conquer the playbook over the years. An unhealthy amount have failed.

While unforeseen circumstances have stripped the Patriots of a few key contributors such as Aaron Hernandez (prison), Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm) and Danny Amendola (groin), they have to hope rookies Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce are not like most guys if they hope to succeed this season.

When players are brought to New England for rookie minicamp and given their playbooks for the first time, many attempt to conceal their fear and confusion.

Others, however, can't hide the truth. All those lines consume their thoughts and it becomes too difficult to conceal it. Boyce, who has played 17 combined snaps in wins over the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, was firmly in this category when he first arrived this spring.

"The playbook," Boyce said, his voice trailing off. "It's hard to understand a little bit."

By now, all of the rookies feel they are beginning to get up to speed, but if they were being honest back then, they all would have voiced something similar to Boyce. Rare is the receiver – veteran or rookie – who can come in and immediately grasp everything in the book.

The Patriots got lucky early during Bill Belichick's tenure with Deion Branch, who quickly grasped the offense, and again when New England transformed into a high-powered outfit in 2007 with Randy Moss and Wes Welker, both of whom Tom Brady considers among the smartest receivers he's played with.

But those types of players are not easily located. Joey Galloway quickly washed out in 2009. Chad Johnson did the same following the 2011 season because he was unable to grasp the playbook. Countless youngsters like Chad Jackson, Brandon Tate and Taylor Price have also come and gone over the years.

There is a common thread: None of them ever got it.

None of them could see the field the same way Brady did from his perch in the pocket. And for a receiver, beyond talent and ability, that is the true key to survival in New England.

"It's different seeing things from a quarterback's eyes than a wide receiver's eyes," Thompkins said.

The reason having a similar perspective is so imperative is because the Patriots' option routes don't work like they do elsewhere. At most colleges, and even in some NFL locales, it is the receiver's job to read the coverage and make a decision. Once he breaks off or continues on his intended route, the quarterback will deliver a pass.

Timing still matters and the ball needs to be there when the break is made, so oftentimes the QB will wait for a tell – such as a drop of his intended target's hips, which indicates he's about to break – to deliver the ball.

Things are much more complex in New England. Brady isn't just watching his receivers, he also reads the defense and expects his guys to see things through the same prism based on the coverage. Often, the ball is already on its way before the target even decides whether to break left or right.

Screw up enough times and chances are Brady will stop throwing the ball in your direction.

"If everyone is not on the same page, then it doesn't work," Brady said in the spring. "A lot of what these practices are about is everybody getting on the same page."

Brady has taken a more active role during meetings and made himself available after practices to help his new targets see things through his eyes, but visible growing pains and awkward moments have been prevalent the first two weeks of the season.

One of those came during Thursday's win over the Jets on a third-and-2 play in the second quarter. Dobson took off up the seam and broke off toward the back corner of the end zone while five-year veteran Julian Edelman ran a crossing pattern over the middle. As both players broke, Brady delivered a ball that went behind Edelman and hit Dobson in the feet.

It was immediately clear someone messed up. The outcome suggested that either Dobson was supposed to curl or Edelman was supposed to sit in the zone, but it is impossible to assign blame without knowing what each player involved saw or didn't see.

Bottom line: The outcome was unacceptable.

When players like Welker were in town, the offense rarely struggled. His chemistry with Brady was so strong that they didn't just live on the same page – for six years, they resided in the same sentence.

That is not the case with the current crop of receivers. They're working at it, and there's hope they'll get there, but it's not where it needs to be.

"We'll see how that goes, and we're going to do what we need to do to win games. and hopefully those players are a big part of the reason why we do it," Brady said.

The truth is, without any of Brady's old security blankets around, if success is to be found, there is no other option.