How Bill Belichick Explained Kayshon Boutte Not Playing Vs. Commanders

FOXBORO, Mass. — Kayshon Boutte was anticipating an opportunity to help the Patriots’ injury-depleted secondary on Sunday, but that chance never came.

Even with starting receivers Kendrick Bourne and DeVante Parker both sidelined with injuries, New England opted to make Boutte a healthy scratch for its 20-17 loss to the Washington Commanders at Gillette Stadium.

It was the eighth consecutive DNP for the sixth-round rookie, who has not suited up for a game since playing 55 snaps in place of an injured Parker in the Patriots’ season-opening loss to Philadelphia.

The timing of Boutte’s latest deactivation was surprising, as it came three days after the LSU product insinuated that he expected to play against Washington (“It’s been seven weeks, and now my name’s being called”) and two days after head coach Bill Belichick revealed that this was Boutte’s best practice week of the season.

So, why didn’t he get the nod on Sunday?

“We activated the players that we felt were the best players to put in the game,” Belichick said in his postgame news conference.

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With Bourne on injured reserve and Parker in concussion protocol, the Patriots opted to play just four traditional receivers against Washington: Demario Douglas, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jalen Reagor and Tyquan Thornton. Belichick also noted that receiving-focused tight end Mike Gesicki is “really … (the Patriots’) fifth receiver.”

There’s no guarantee Boutte would have helped the Patriots’ struggling offense. After all, he had no catches on four targets in his lone appearance this season, and he clearly hasn’t done enough behind the scenes to convince the coaching staff he deserves to play.

But he couldn’t have given New England much less than it got from Reagor and Thornton in this game.

Reagor was targeted six times and caught one pass for 11 yards. He also had a well-placed deep ball slip through his hands in the second half, though he did deliver a nice block on Rhamondre Stevenson’s 64-yard touchdown run.

Thornton, meanwhile, was held to one catch on four targets for 7 yards and didn’t see the field in the second half. The second-year pro has just three total receptions across three appearances this season, and he wasn’t fully healthy Sunday, either, going through an extensive pregame workout in front of coaches and trainers after being listed as questionable with a foot injury. That process typically indicates a player is a game-time decision.

Gesicki was going to be active regardless, but he finished with no catches on one target.

Douglas was the Patriots’ top receiver in the loss, catching five of his seven targets for 55 yards, and Smith-Schuster had his most productive game as a Patriot with six catches for 51 yards. Smith-Schuster’s seventh and final target proved disastrous, however, as Jones’ pass bounced off the much-maligned wideout’s hands and straight to defensive back Jartavius Martin for a game-sealing interception.

Nine weeks into the season, no Patriots wide receiver has topped 100 yards in a game, and only one has surpassed 75: Bourne, who is out until 2024 after tearing his ACL last week.

We’ll see if Boutte can finally work his way into Belichick’s good graces ahead of next Sunday’s international game against the Indianapolis Colts in Germany.