Patriots Need WRs to Step Up After Kayshon Boutte Injury

The New England Patriots offense will have to pivot after leading receiver Kayshon Boutte suffered a hamstring injury.

Boutte is considered "day-to-day," but his status is up in the air for the team's Week 10 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Boutte were to miss the game, Kyle Williams could see more action for the Pats.

"I'm excited that he'll probably get an opportunity here, a little greater opportunity going forward. It's just a lot of different personnel groups and alignments," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said.

"And so, I think he settled down and I think that he'll get an opportunity here moving forward. I think Kayshon's going to be day-to-day, but I don't see him practicing early in the week. We'll see where that goes late in the week, but Kyle should be ready to go here for us."

New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams completes a pass during the third quarter at Gillette Stadium. | Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

Patriots Need Reinforcements at Wide Receiver

Williams will be the next man up for the Pats if Boutte can't go against the Bucs, but the team will need more than just him in order to get back on track. The team should also rely on veteran wideout Mack Hollins to get a couple more targets from quarterback Drake Maye.

"He spent a lot of time here this offseason, away from his family to learn quickly what we were asking him to do and all the different positions that we were putting him in," Vrabel said. "Spent a lot of time. He was a great mentor to these young guys. They were here, I would say, as long as the coaches were in the offseason."

"After some of the veterans had gone home for the day, stays, here early. He has a unique bond with some of those young guys and has been dependable. He's coachable, has a great energy to him and a spirit. We'll try to continue to find places to get him to football when he goes in there and does some of that dirty work. We'll try to reward him."

Hollins has 20 receptions for 217 yards and two touchdowns so far this season, but he hasn't seen the end zone since Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers. That could change if he is able to get more plays drawn for him with Boutte out.

Whether it's Williams or Hollins, or even Stefon Diggs, the Patriots will need to replace Boutte by committee while he's out. If they can do that, the Patriots may not skip a beat.

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