How Kayshon Boutte Explained Final Play In Patriots Loss To Eagles

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Had Kayshon Boutte still been playing at LSU, the pass he received from Mac Jones late in Sunday's game would have given his team a drive-extending first down.

Alas, in the NFL, players need to get both feet down in bounds for a catch to count. The Patriots rookie receiver got just one, resulting in a turnover on downs deep in Philadelphia Eagles territory.

A Jalen Hurts kneeldown one play later closed out a season-opening 25-20 loss for New England at Gillette Stadium.

Boutte knew his near-catch was a chance wasted.

"Opportunities come our way that everybody's got to make, you know?" the sixth-round draft pick said during a brief postgame chat with reporters. "I felt like that was my opportunity. We practice it day in, day out. That was just something that I felt like I could have caught."

The play in question occurred on a fourth-and-11 from the Philly 20-yard line with 29 seconds remaining and the Patriots down five. Boutte separated from cornerback Josh Jobe on an out route, and Jones fired a pass to him a yard past the first marker and just inside the left sideline.

Officials initially gave Boutte the catch but overturned it upon video review. Replays definitively showed that he got his right foot down but not his left, which sailed inches above the turf before landing in the white chalk.

That Boutte was on the field at all in that scenario was a notable and surprising development.

The Patriots played their entire final drive with Kendrick Bourne, Boutte and fellow rookie sixth-rounder Demario Douglas as their three receivers, with Boutte and Douglas both getting the nod over marquee offseason addition JuJu Smith-Schuster.

"We had different groups, different rotations, so we’re good with whoever is in there," head coach Bill Belichick said.

Starting receiver DeVante Parker missed the game with a knee injury, and Boutte saw frequent playing time at Parker's "X" position. The first-year wideout played 55 of the Patriots' 63 offensive snaps, second-most among Patriots wideouts behind Bourne's 73.

Asked whether he viewed his crunch-time snaps as a sign of the coaching staff's confidence in him, Boutte replied: "Yes, sir."

Boutte finished his NFL debut without a catch on four targets, including another earlier in the game where he caught the ball but couldn't get both feet in. Jones also had a deep ball to Boutte broken up in the end zone by Eagles safety Reed Blankenship.

Douglas, who was the more consistent performer of the two in training camp, caught four passes on seven targets for 70 yards in the loss.