Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick Harsh Explanation For Kayshon Boutte Playing Time

The New England Patriots won two games so far, but they still have time to save the season. Head coach Bill Belichick made a few changes to his roster and also tried to solve some of the issues at wide receiver. The Patriots lack a strong wide receiver option for quite some time. Rookie Kayshon Boutte joined the team to make things easier for the team, but Belichick didn’t give him any playing time at all.

The talented rookie showed great performance in training camp and did 55 snaps in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He stepped in as a replacement for DeVante Parker in that game. That’s it. Boutte is a healthy scratch for the team and Belichick didn’t provide much information on his role in the future. He just explained that there is a strong competition in that unit.

“It’s been a very competitive situation,” Belichick told the media. “We have a lot of competition at that position. So, everybody’s in it. Obviously, the guys that perform the best play the most. The ones that don’t need to perform better.”

"Guys who perform the best play the most, the guys that don't need to perform better"

Bill Belichick is asked about Kayshon Boutte, who has been inactive since Week 1 pic.twitter.com/9j7Xwc6vKr

— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) October 27, 2023

Is Boutte part of the competition? According to the Patriots head coach, all players compete.

“They’re all competing,” Belichick said. “Again, it’s very competitive, see how that goes.”

Belichick made things complicated for Boutte

The signing of Jalen Reagor made things a little hard for the rookie. Belichick promoted him from the practice unit and the wide receiver saw action in each of the last two games. In the win over the Buffalo Bills, Reagor played 25 offensive snaps and had one reception.

“Jalen’s come in, been a really good scout team player for us,” Belichick said. “We’ve played against a lot of top receivers, and he’s gotten a lot of good opportunities with some of the routes that those guys run to kind of be featured a little bit on some of the scout team plays. He’s earned some playing time, which has come from his practice time, practice performance. He’s picking up the offense, and we’ll see how it goes. Got good talent, good guy to work with, glad we have him.”