Kayshon Boutte apologizes for his critical comments on Patriots' offensive play-calling
FOXBORO -- New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte apologized on Wednesday for the way he voiced his displeasure about the team's offensive play-calling following Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Boutte caught just two of the five passes that went his way in New England's 30-17 defeat, and had one of those targets bounce off his hands and into Sean Murphy-Bunting's for an interception. After the game, Boutte seemed to place the blame on rookie quarterback Drake Maye, saying that Maye's pass was a little low.
"I know it's a play I've got to make but it's kind of hard when you're running full speed in one direction and the ball is kind of low," he said in Arizona.
But Maye wasn't the only one that Boutte criticized after the loss. He also took aim at offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt over the team's play-calling in the first half.
"We knew they was gonna play man the whole game. But I feel like it's disrespectful when they go man first quarter, you know? So I feel like we need to be better at attacking that instead of being shy about it," he said.
Boutte said that the way he relayed his critiques were not appropriate.
Kayshon Boutte apologizes
Boutte chalked up his critical comments to frustration over losing another game, but took full accountability for his poor way of delivering his opinion.
"I think it was just the frustration that I had lingering from the game that went into the postgame interview," Boutte said in Foxboro on Wednesday. "I feel like I was wrong for what I said. It wasn't the right way to handle it and go about it. That's my fault. I take accountability for it."
Boutte said that he personally apologized to Van Pelt, who didn't take much offense to his comments.
"I was just like, 'I'm sorry for the way the message came across. I went about it the wrong way. Instead of going about it to the media, I should have came to you,'" explained Boutte. "He understood. He said he loved that I came to him and just talked about it. He's open to hearing ideas and everything like that. So just having somebody that understands and is open to listening is great."
Of course, Boutte wasn't the only one to make critical comments about Van Pelt on Sunday. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo essentially threw his OC under the bus when asked why the mobile Maye didn't attempt one of the team's two unsuccessful runs when facing a third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 deep in Arizona territory.
Mayo walked back those comments on Monday, though he's come under a lot of fire since the team's fourth straight loss.
Javon Baker says he suffered his concussion in a car accident
Patriots rookie receiver Javon Baker revealed Wednesday that he suffered a concussion last week after being involved in a bad car accident. Baker told reporters that he's feeling better now, and is "blessed" to have walked away from the wreck with only a concussion.
It raised some eyebrows in New England when, coming out of the team's bye week, Baker missed last Wednesday's practice with a concussion. The team didn't reveal when he suffered the concussion, so it remained a mystery until Week 16.
Baker missed all of last week and was inactive against the Cardinals, but said Wednesday that he has cleared concussion protocol. The fourth-round pick out of UCF has no receptions and just one target in his eight games this season, but is hoping to be able to do something over the final three weeks of his rookie year.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Bills game on WBZ-TV, the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay (which you can also stream on CBS News Boston), kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m., and after the game switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!
