KeShon Bout, Tom Brady and Pharaoh Brown

As we head into the 2023 season, it seems like there’s so much news happening every day and not enough time to keep track of it all.

So, to make things a little easier, here are the biggest news about the Patriots as we head into the weekend as we eagerly await their next game against the Dolphins on Sunday.

There have been a lot of questions surrounding KeShon Butte’s status in the Patriots offense for weeks, mostly because of how well he’s performed over the past six games. As he regained some spark during the preseason and excitement grew about his potential with the team, his absence left many wondering why Bill Belichick kept him out for nearly half the season. Contest.

Those concerns came to a head earlier this week when Jalen Reago was signed to the 53-man roster, becoming the seventh wide receiver signed by the team. Since Belichick tends to carry five receivers on game days, that could mean two receivers are out for every subsequent game.

It’s still assumed that Bute will be one of those players, but there’s no real explanation as to why he doesn’t get more opportunities. But that changed on Friday, when the head coach was asked directly how Bute ensured he was one of the active players on game day, and his answer seemed to speak volumes more than what he actually said.

“It’s a very competitive situation. I feel like we have a lot of competition at this position. Everybody is in it. The guys who perform the best play the most and the guys who don’t need to perform better.

They are all competing. We have a lot of players and I think they’re all very competitive. We’ll see how it goes. “

Based on that answer, Bute won’t be playing anytime soon. but why?

As a sixth-round pick, there weren’t strong expectations for what he would do in the draft. There was one time, though, as he was previously considered a first-round pick. A poor showing at LSU and alleged issues with the new coaching staff changed that, leaving him with the 187th overall pick in the 2023 draft to the Patriots.

He performed well over the summer and became the most talked-about receiver this season (besides Demario Douglas), but he didn’t live up to that goal in Week 1 against the Eagles. Boutte was targeted four times in that game, giving up two and catching no others.

But is that enough to warrant him being locked up in Belichick’s doghouse?

Maybe there’s more to the story than we know, because if it were based entirely on acting, it wouldn’t really make much sense. Bute was a rookie and only got one chance to play in a real NFL game. It’s unfair to judge him based solely on his performance.

It would be nice to see Belichick give him more opportunities this season, especially since the offense is still working on ironing out some kinks and building cohesion. Boutte looks like he could be a formidable weapon alongside Mac Jones, so now it’s time to see what he can do sooner rather than later.