Boutte was reportedly one of the standouts at wide receiver in the final weeks of training camp, making catches from both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.

The momentum from those practices carried into the Patriots’ preseason game against the Packers last week. Boutte turned a reception off a slant from Zappe into a 42-yard touchdown.

That play showed some of the promise he presented during the earlier part of his career at LSU. He had 83 receptions for 1,244 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first 16 games with the Tigers before suffering an ankle fracture during the 2021 season.

That injury slowed down Boutte as some believed he could’ve been a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft prior to the 2022 season. After a relatively underwhelming 2022 season, Boutte was picked in the sixth round of the draft by the Patriots.

Boutte appeared to be far from a lock to make the Patriots’ roster for much of the offseason as Belichick noted that he didn’t do much in the spring. The emergence of fellow sixth-round rookie receiver Demario Douglas also appeared to make it unlikely that Boutte would make the roster.

But after the last couple of weeks, it appears Boutte is on track to make New England’s 53-man roster when teams must make their final cutdowns ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. He only played the opening drive of Friday’s preseason finale, in which the Patriots didn’t play much of their starters.

Belichick didn’t make any declarations about Boutte’s roster status. But he still praised the receiver.

“He’s had a good camp,” Belichick said. “And again, we’ll just take a look at everything here as we put things together over the weekend here and then heading into the regular season. But yeah, Kayshon’s had a strong camp.”