It’s been a tumultuous six weeks for the New England Patriots’ cornerback corps with the lone constant being second-year pro Malcolm Butler.
Butler has played nearly every snap for the Patriots this season, and he’s been trusted to shadow No. 1 receivers. While he’s produced mixed results so far, head coach Bill Belichick had praise for Butler on Monday and believes the cornerback’s best football is still ahead of him.
“His role is that he’s out on the field for almost every defensive play, so that’s a big change from where it was last year,” Belichick said in a conference call with the media. “Malcolm is a good football player and he’s played very well for us both last year and this year, but just given where we are in the secondary and the level of improvement, I think no matter who we had on our team that he would be playing a lot of football for us. So that’s really a credit to him and how much he’s improved from last year to this year. He’s a good football player. He’s playing well. He does a lot of good things for us, and there is still a lot of room for him to improve. I don’t think he’s hit the peak, but he’s getting better and I thought he played well last night.”
Butler allowed five catches on 12 targets for 72 yards with a touchdown and three pass breakups Sunday night in the Patriots’ 34-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts, as he spent most of the game covering Donte Moncrief. He’s allowed 18 catches on 32 targets for 329 yards with four touchdowns, an interception and seven pass breakups on the season.
The Patriots came into the 2015 season with Butler, Logan Ryan, Justin Coleman, Bradley Fletcher and Tarell Brown at cornerback. Butler, Fletcher and Brown began the season as the starters, but Fletcher has since been cut and Brown was placed on injured reserve Saturday. That leaves Butler and Ryan as the lone corners who were with the team last year and during training camp.
The potential of the Patriots’ pass defense depends on Butler’s success moving forward. If he can hit his peak and begin playing like a legit No. 1 cornerback, a potentially troublesome unit would suddenly look solid.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
