Confident Patriots Rookie Reacts To Week 1 Healthy Scratch

Javon Baker’s Patriots tenure isn’t off to the best start.

Baker, who immediately gained attention in New England with his post-draft bravado, struggled as the Patriots wrapped up the preseason. Those growing pains coincided with a late-summer traffic incident, which prompted a social media outburst that didn’t sit well at all with head coach Jerod Mayo.

The rookie wide receiver unsurprisingly was a healthy scratch for New England’s Week 1 win in Cincinnati, and Mayo wasn’t interested in expanding on the designation. Baker was similarly tight-lipped when he spoke about the DNP with A to Z Sports’ Sophie Weller.

“I don’t know,” Baker told Weller on Wednesday. “You got to talk to Coach Mayo on that one. I don’t know. I’m just playing my role. Doing what I got to do.”

Fortunately for the Patriots, three of their top five picks in the 2024 draft made real contributions last Sunday at Paycor Stadium. Layden Robinson, Ja’Lynn Polk and Caedan Wallace all were part of the equation, with the guard even playing every offensive snap.

Time will tell when Baker is given the opportunity to join those peers as a gameday contributor. It most likely won’t be Sunday when New England hosts the 1-0 Seattle Seahawks.