The New England Patriots' wide receiver room lacks many things. Confidence isn't one of them, it appears.
Second-year wideout Kayshon Boutte was a bright spot in the Patriots' 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, racking up a career-high 95 yards on five catches that included a 28-yard touchdown strike from rookie quarterback Drake Maye.
And while that performance was an outlier for Boutte -- who had yet to top 59 receiving yards in a game before Sunday -- he made a rather strong declaration on Instagram the following day, sharing a meme from "The Simpsons" that shows Bart writing the words, "These motha----as ain't stoppin me" on a chalkboard.
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Swipe all the way to the right in the Instagram post below to see the meme.
To Boutte's credit, he's been a relative bright spot this season in the black hole that is New England's receiver room. The 2023 sixth-round pick out of LSU ranks third on the Patriots in receiving yards (444) behind only Hunter Henry and DeMario Douglas and first on the team in yards per catch (13.9).
In fact, Boutte's 95 receiving yards were the most in one game by a Patriots wide receiver since Dec. 24, 2022, when Kendrick Bourne hit 100 yards on six catches. (Tight end Hunter Henry topped the century mark earlier this season with 109 yards on eight catches against the Seattle Seahawks.)
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That's obviously a reflection of how unproductive the passing game has been over the last two-plus seasons. The Patriots haven't had a true No. 1 receiver since Julian Edelman retired following the 2020 campaign, and they'll need to invest heavily in the position via free agency or the draft (or both) this offseason.
Still, Boutte has made a compelling case to be part of the receiver room going forward, taking advantage of the team's lack of receiving depth to emerge as one of Maye's (relative) favorite targets, particularly on deep balls.
“After practice we always throw over-the-shoulder passes," Maye said Monday on WEEI's Afternoon Show. "Boutte and those guys stay after and I think it’s paying off a little bit.
"I appreciate those guys for wanting to put in the work. Winning 1-on-1 chances, I think that’ll help us down the road. Being able to not have guys just press us up and play man (coverage) and let them know that we can hurt them when they do that.”
With a deep target rate (20-plus air yards) of 25 percent -- good for eighth in the NFL -- perhaps Boutte can solidify himself as a viable deep threat for New England. At the very least, it's clear he believes in himself.