Bill O’Brien Gives Glowing Report Of Patriots Rookie Kayshon Boutte

New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Kayshon Boutte seemed to draw the ire of Bill O’Brien this spring during a team drill.

But since that incident took off on social media, the LSU product’s performances on the practice field seem to be more to O’Brien’s liking.

Boutte, a six-round draft pick, began to flash this week at Patriots training camp, winning one-on-one battles and catching his first pass from starting quarterback Mac Jones. The 6-foot, 197-pound pass-catcher also earned praise from JuJu Smith-Schuster for how he handled learning the Patriots difficult playbook.

And O’Brien kept the compliment train for Boutte going Friday with the Patriots offensive coordinator impressed with the progress made by the wideout and his fellow rookies.

“It’s hard to just talk about one guy because all of these guys have really, since the day they arrived here post-draft, they really worked hard as a group to get better,” O’Brien told reporters. “That’s one thing that you see there. There’s definitely a mentality that they have that they try to learn. We throw a lot of information out at them. They get a lot of information, they absorb the information, they try to get better. Kayshon is definitely a guy that’s really worked hard to get better every day and that’s good to see.”

Boutte slid in the draft after an underwhelming final collegiate season at LSU. He was thought of as a possible late-round steal, given his strong production as a freshman with the Tigers before injuries and clashes with the coaching staff hurt his draft stock.

Boutte admitted he had a “slow” start to training camp, but he’s starting to showcase his potential. That hasn’t happened by accident, either.

“He’s learning from the vets,” O’Brien said. “You have some really good vets at the position, and plus you have Troy Brown and Ross Douglas coaching that position. So you have a lot of people to learn from and I think they’re doing a good job of not making the same mistake twice, learning from a mistake and trying to get better and Kayshon’s done that.”

And Boutte exhibiting that type of mentality might be more valuable in the long run than his talent as he battles for a roster spot.

“When you have that attitude, if you can keep that consistent attitude, if you’re out there on the field and you’re taking care of your body and you’re able to be out there, you’re going to get better with that attitude,” O’Brien said. “And I think you’re seeing that on a day-to-day basis.”