Demario Douglas, Patriots receivers step to the forefront

After leading the team in receiving a year ago and looking even better this spring, Pop Douglas has been limited through the early days of training camp. He participates in individual work but not 7-on-7 or team work. The second-year pass catcher revealed that he hurt his left hand in summer workouts — it was taped up — but don't fret.

"Minor tweak," he said Sunday, adding, "I'm good, but we want to make sure that everything (is) good before I go out there."

Beyond that, there's the question of weight. Douglas played at around 182 pounds last season and had talked of perhaps putting on some pounds. But after evaluating his own game, he decided to stay put.

"I felt like I felt good where I was at," he said. "I didn't want to get any heavier because I felt like I was gonna be sluggish."

Quickness is definitely a big part of the smaller receiver's game. Per PFF's tracking data, Douglas got 67.7% of his snaps in the slot as a rookie and 31 of his receptions. After Kendrick Bourne tore his ACL in late October, Pop became the focal point of the passing game and occasionally had teams bracketing him. I didn't have that on my bingo card (don't let the Pats tell you they did, either). Douglas believes he'll continue to attract more attention in year two but thinks the rest of the wide receiver room can make opponents pay.

"We got some dogs, so, I mean, if they put their attention on me, the dogs are gonna eat."

The dogs went hungry for a good part of last season, and GM Eliot Wolf tried to address that this offseason by double-dipping in the draft and signing veteran K.J. Osborn. Management knew what they ran out there in 2023-24 wasn't good enough. But how improved is this new group?

Douglas made it clear that the wideouts have been paying attention to what the pundits are saying about them (I remember this was a theme last year...), including a social media post that rated them 32nd out of 32 teams.

"I seen that on Instagram," he acknowledged. "I say I know it's gonna be a dog world this year. That's how I know it's gonna be nice this year. Way better than we did last year. Don't get me wrong. We had some receivers, but I feel like this is a whole different room this year. 

"It motivates me, yeah, for sure. And I've seen it motivate others, too," he said, pointing to the rookies, Ja'Lynn Polk and Javo Baker. 

Whether that motivation - and added talent - is enough to change people's opinions remains to be seen, but know that Douglas will once again play a central role.

BOUTTE TALKS

Kayshon Boutte stepped in front of a microphone for the first time since being charged with underage gambling and computer fraud back in January, charges that were dropped less than two weeks ago. The relief in his voice was evident.

"I'll just say it was a dumb decision I made when I was young,' said the 22-year-old. "It's a process I had to go through. Unfortunately, it happened, but it's life, you know, and now it's behind us and we just focus on football."

Boutte allegedly placed nearly 9,000 bets at LSU, all before turning 21, the legal betting age. He continued to work out and prepare himself as best he could for the season but admitted it was a difficult time.

"It was just a lot not knowing what was going to happen with the NFL — if I was going to face suspension or not. But now that the case and charges were dropped, (it's just) football."

So far, Boutte says the league hasn't contacted him about the case, and he has no idea if they will (I'd be surprised if they don't). When asked why the charges were dropped, the second-year wideout declined, saying, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Now that he's in the NFL, the rules permit players to bet on other sports, just not football. Boutte claims that that phase of his life is dead and gone.

"I just feel like I need to stay away from it," he said. "It's not like I'm really addicted or nothing, but it's just something I need to let go. 

"I wouldn't try it again, knowing that something worse could come of it. Like you live and you learn. Like Coach (Mayo) says, you don't want to make the same mistake twice."

In this instance, it would feel like two strikes, and you're out. Boutte can't afford that as he continues to chase his NFL dreams. His first year in the league didn't go as he hoped (just two catches for 19 yards), and the team hit the position hard in the off-season. The hope is that internal competition will elevate the unit.

"I'd say it's a fight every day, you know, rent is due, and it's due every day," he said. "So every day we come out here, we try to get better as individuals and as a team. I think we all know there's a limited amount of spots - we're over the amount of receivers we need - so every day we come out here, it's a battle. You just got to show them why you feel like you deserve to be here."

Boutte had one of the plays of the day Sunday, winning a one-on-one battle with Christian Gonzalez. It was a go route off a hesitation move, and the receiver did an excellent job of sensing how Gonzo was using his leverage, reeling in a nice throw from Drake Maye.

"Gonzo is one of the more patient corners, you know, so you just got to do a lot of things to beat him. So I think when I gave him the stutter at 10 yards, he was kind of thinking I was gonna come back on a comeback, but he played my low shoulder,  so it was just late hands over the top (and) catch."