Patriots' Kayshon Boutte Claps Back At Sean Payton After 'Rest' Comments

The New England Patriots go into Mile High Stadium as 4.5-point favorites over the Denver Broncos this weekend, with much of that unusual point-differential coming due to the injury to quarterback Bo Nix, who will miss the game - and the rest of the season - with a broken ankle suffered in the overtime win against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round.

Despite the bookmaker's making New England moderate-to-heavy favorites in the matchup, Broncos head coach Sean Payton seemed pretty optimistic about his team's chances in the game.

“They’re going to have plenty of rest after this one. Two weeks." Payton said of Broncos fans, demonstrating his own apparent certainty that Denver will be playing in Super Bowl LX on February 8.

And in the wake of those comments, Patriots receiver Kayshon Boutte came out with some rebuttal of his own, claiming that Denver and its fans will be resting on holiday after New England knocks them out of the postseason.

Kayshon Boutte on Sean Payton suggesting Broncos fans will get extra rest for the Super Bowl:

"They can rest in Cancun too at the end of the day."pic.twitter.com/aiQIbUBhWE
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) January 22, 2026

Despite Boutte stating he had not seen the clip of Payton's comments, he had an off-the-cuff response when they relayed to him by the media.

"They can rest in Cancun too at the end of the day. It is what it is." Boutte said, per Underdog NFL.

Boutte Sends Confident Message to Opponents

Boutte, who was the team's third-highest receiver by yards this past season, with 551 - to go along with 6 receiving touchdowns - has proven to be a valuable commodity in the Patriots' offense.

Him and fellow 2023 sixth round pick, Demario Douglas, have been excellent complementary pieces to WR1, Stefon Diggs, throughout the season. But it has been the playoffs where the former LSU product has really started to shine.

Boutte leads the team in postseason receiving yards, with 141 over the past two games, and made one of the best catches of the season - and perhaps in recent NFL memory - with a one-handed grab against the Houston Texans last weekend.

The whole Patriots organization knows that the world expects them to advance to the Super Bowl, despite the Broncos being an incredibly well-rounded team and Jarrett Stidham being one of the more capable backups in the NFL.

So the pressure is clearly on them. But Boutte's calm, relaxed approach seemed to show that the team is not getting too caught up in all the hype - but that they are no doubt confident of a victory in their first AFC championship game in over half a decade.

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