When the Patriots dusted off Dion Lewis on Sunday against the 49ers, they showed faith in his knee with an ample workload, and Lewis in turn offered a teaser of what lies ahead.

Lewis’ burst surpassed outside expectations after his 378-day layoff included two knee surgeries, so the Patriots appear to have added another weapon to Tom Brady’s loaded stable. Lewis played 20 snaps, excluding plays negated by penalties, and was given similar playing time as running backs LeGarrette Blount (32 snaps) and James White (22).

But the way the Patriots deployed the trio was starkly different, with Lewis emerging as the greatest dual threat in the backfield. Aside from his dynamic playmaking prowess, Lewis’ talents allow the Patriots to disguise their intent more than they do with Blount and White.

Lewis had five carries for 23 yards, including three for 17 yards out of the shotgun and two for 6 yards when Brady was under center. He pass-blocked three times and caught three passes for 26 yards on 11 routes: seven out of the backfield in the shotgun (one catch for 9 yards), two out of the backfield with Brady under center (one catch for 9 yards) and two while lined up wide left (one catch for 8 yards). Lewis was also in the backfield for a Julian Edelman carry.

The most encouraging aspect was Lewis’ evasiveness on the heels of a rigorous rehabilitation. He showed that instantly with a 9-yard catch on the third snap of the game when he shook a helpless 49ers defender before the sticks and drove ahead for a third-and-3 conversion. Lewis also showed some shake when he took a third-and-9 shotgun draw for 12 yards, and he wiggled out of a tackle attempt from Jaquiski Tartt at the line of scrimmage.

While no one outside of Gillette Stadium knew what to expect, Lewis was confident in his escapability right away.

“I knew I could do that,” Lewis said. “I wouldn’t have come back and played if I couldn’t do that because that’s what I do. That’s my game. If I couldn’t do everything I’m used to doing, I probably wouldn’t be out there.”

Lewis ate into White’s snaps more than Blount’s workload, which was expected due to their similar traits. But interestingly, excluding one second-quarter spike, all of White’s snaps were in the shotgun, and he never took a handoff. He caught five passes for 49 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield, where he lined up 18 times (15 routes, three blocking assignments), and caught a 14-yard pass on three routes while lined up wide right.

Don’t dismiss White’s importance with Lewis back in the mix, though. White trucked Rashard Robinson at the goal line for a 9-yard touchdown on a screen pass, and he ran a perfect comeback route on the sideline for that 14-yarder when Brady was running for his life. Brady and the Patriots trust White too much to remove him from the equation.

The Pats also ran three plays with both Lewis and White flanking Brady in the shotgun, and they were all effective in some capacity. The first was Lewis’ 9-yard catch on third-and-3. The second resulted in an incompletion to Edelman, but White’s route to the right flat forced the 49ers’ zone coverage to shade toward White, which opened up a hole for Edelman along the right sideline before Brady’s overthrow. And the third play was Malcolm Mitchell’s 56-yard touchdown catch.

Blount’s usage was entirely different. He was in the backfield with Brady under center for 29-of-32 snaps, including an Edelman run and Brady’s fourth-quarter kneel-down. Blount ran 19 times for 124 yards exclusively with Brady under center. Blount also ran six routes, including one out of the shotgun, and pass blocked five times, including two in the shotgun. Brady frequently used play-action when Blount was on the field, so that was one way to keep the defense honest, but the Patriots’ intentions were straightforward with their bulldozer in the backfield.

There’s room for all three running backs in the offense, especially because the Patriots use them in unique ways. But Lewis brings a bit more balance to the equation, forcing the defense to be more alert for both the run and pass than it would with the run-heavy Blount or pass-heavy White.

And those packages with both Lewis and White will create chaos for defenses that already struggle to align coverages over the middle with tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett along with Edelman. Lewis’ presence will test defenses the rest of the way, and the Patriots advertised that element Sunday.