FOXBOROUGH – Before the Patriots kickoff against the Houston Texans, there was one receiver who predicted he was going to score his first NFL touchdown. Then during the game, there was another who went up to his coach and asked them to throw him the ball.
Both instances led to the first NFL touchdowns for DeMario ‘Pop’ Douglas and Kayshon Boutte on Sunday.
In Drake Maye’s first NFL start, Douglas and Boutte put together career days, capped off with their first trips to the end zone. For Douglas, it was something he predicted while warming up on the Gillette Stadium field.
“I was mic’d up today,” Douglas said. “And I was saying I was going to get my first touchdown today. It got spoken into existence and manifested. I read the defense and saw man (coverage). After I caught the ball, I was like, ‘Don’t fall this time, don’t fall this time.’ Got into the end zone – first tug.”
For Douglas, it was a long time coming. Last year, as a rookie, he had a great season where he became the most productive rookie receiver in the Bill Belichick era, finishing with 49 receptions and 561 yards. However, the one thing that he didn’t do was catch a touchdown.
That changed at 9:24 of the fourth quarter when he hauled in a 35-yard touchdown from Maye. Douglas also finished with six catches for a career-high 92 yards on Sunday.
Boutte didn’t predict he’d score a touchdown during warmups, but he saw something in the way that the Texans were defending him that led him to be confident. That’s why he approached the coaching staff on the sideline and asked them to dial up a play for him.
Boutte hauled in the 40-yard touchdown pass from with 11 seconds. He caught three passes and also finished with a career-high, finishing with 59 receiving yards.
“Going into the second quarter, we didn’t have momentum from the first quarter. A couple of three-and-outs, back-to-back-to-back,” Boutte said. “Defenses start sitting on routes when we weren’t throwing it deep. I went to Coach and I was like, ‘We need to take a shot, I want the ball.’ That was the opportunity, and it presented itself. Drake threw a great ball. Great pass from him.”
For the receivers, even in a loss, they left Gillette Stadium feeling confident on Sunday.
“I don’t like losing, but what I’ve seen, the little spurts, I feel like we’re moving in the right direction,” Douglas said. “I walked out of the training room, looked at the clock, and saw 4:44. I know some of you all might not believe in it, but angel number – 444 means you’re going in the right direction. I believe that we’re going in the right direction. We might’ve taken a loss but there’s a lot of stuff we can learn from.”
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