Patriots News: Kayshon Boutte, Mac Jones, Josh Uche, and Chase Young

Entangled throughout all the news of the NFL trade deadline were some interesting overlooked headlines regarding the Patriots despite their quiet day on the trade front.

Even though they didn't make any moves before Tuesday's deadline, they weren't sitting in their office chairs in Foxboro doing nothing, and the calls they were making should pique fans' interest a bit when hearing who they were making calls about and who they were receiving calls (or not) for.

Additionally, Bill O'Brien made some interesting comments about Kayshon Boutte, who will be seeing more time on the field as soon as next week.

Bill O'Brien speaks highly of Kayshon Boutte despite weeks of being a healthy scratch

Now that Kendrick Bourne will be out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury and DeVante Parker will miss at least one game with a concussion, the Patriots' offense will look a lot different moving forward. That means guys like Kayshon Boutte, who has been a healthy scratch every week since opening weekend, will be given more opportunities on the field despite their limited usage through the first eight games.

But Boutte's benching has brought up a lot of questions regarding his coaching and development, two aspects that were concerns during his final year in college. At first, it seemed he was getting the doghouse treatment by Belichick for going 0/4 in the game against the Eagles, dropping some catchable passes that would have been significant to the Patriots' chances of winning the game.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case. Whatever the real reason remains unknown, but Bill O'Brien assured those concerned that Boutte is a very coachable player and is just going through growing pains in transitioning from college to the NFL.

"I’ve always said that that, a rookie receiver, it’s a very difficult transition. Especially on the perimeter, because in college football, you’re not always seeing the same type of coverages that you see in professional football. It’s just the way it is. Sometimes, the transition to pro football is a little bit tougher. It takes a little bit longer."

It's a disappointing development after Boutte shined during the preseason, especially once fellow rookie receiver Demario Douglas missed some time with an injury. The hype picked up for the once-projected first-round draft pick, and it appeared the Patriots may have hit the jackpot with a late-round star in the making.

The excitement has since died down, with worries starting to brew, knowing he will be needed on the field for the rest of the season. However, O'Brien (once again) set the record straight and praised the 21-year-old for his work ethic and potential.

"Kayshon’s worked very hard and he’s showed glimpses of what he can be. I believe in him and I believe he’s got a good future."

It's quite the ringing endorsement for Boutte, who will hopefully be able to prove O'Brien right as soon as Week 9 against the Commanders next Sunday.

Reports claim no teams called Patriots about trade for Mac Jones prior to deadline

Discussions surrounding the possibility of the Patriots trading Mac Jones before the deadline picked up this week after Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury during Sunday's game against the Packers.

Because many believe that Jones has been the leading reason why the team has lost several games this year, they were ready for Bill Belichick to move on from the third-year quarterback sooner rather than later, which made the news about Cousins feel like perfect timing.

But Minnesota inevitably did not trade for Jones, nor did they ever call New England to discuss a potential trade. In fact, according to The Athletic, the Patriots didn't receive any inquiries about Jones prior to Tuesday's deadline.

That may be surprising to some, given the few quarterback-needy teams around the league. However, it's not all that shocking considering his performance this season and the likely asking price the Patriots would hope in return.

And on top of that, they don't have a better option at quarterback than Jones right now, making them less eager to ship him off than if they had a competent player on the roster.

Bill Belichick had "advanced talks" about trading Josh Uche

One of the few players on the Patriots roster this season who garnered interest from teams inquiring about a trade was linebacker Josh Uche. As one of the more valuable players on the defense, he was expected to be traded before the deadline on Tuesday afternoon.

Although that didn't happen, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer revealed the team had "advanced talks" with some teams regarding a trade, they just never came to fruition.

"The lukewarm interest at that level won’t help the Patriots move Josh Uche, either. Though New England has had advanced talks on an Uche trade with a couple of teams over the past few weeks (Uche’s injury does make things more complicated now). New England has also had interest in safety Kyle Dugger."

Now that the deadline has come and gone, no reason has been given why no deal was made between any teams that had made calls to New England. It could be due to Uche's lingering injury, which Breer noted. Or it could be due to Belichick hoping for a higher draft pick in return, which seemed to be wishful thinking after seeing Chase Young moved for just a third-round pick.

For a more optimistic spin, another explanation for Uche remaining a Patriot could be that he's considered more valuable on the team than not, something that maybe deterred Belichick from shipping him off for basically any return.

Even if that's not the case, re-signing him should be considered since most players on rookie contracts have not received an extension in the last five years. Not retaining young players makes it much more difficult to build a team, making it wiser to keep Uche until re-signing him becomes a priority.

Patriots allegedly inquired about trading for Chase Young before trade to 49ers

Because the Patriots remained mum leading up to the trade deadline on Tuesday, some fans and members of the media were disappointed that no trades were made despite the team's current losing season.

Although there wasn't a lot Bill Belichick could do with their roster or the limited cap space available, most were hoping they would ship off all the most valuable players to acquire a lengthy list of draft picks for the 2024 draft.

Since that didn't happen, the narrative that New England just sat on their hands until the trade deadline came began to pick up steam online, with many voicing their frustrations about the seeming lack of activity in Foxboro beforehand.

But that can be put to rest now after seeing The Athletic's Jeff Howe's report claiming the Patriots had received calls about some players, like Ezekiel Elliott, and were also making calls inquiring about those that had been made available. One in particular was former Defensive Rookie of the Year Chase Young.

Clearly, whatever conversations were had between the Patriots and Commanders didn't amount to anything since Young was traded to the 49ers for a third-round pick. But the report at least proves some attempt made by Belichick and Co. before the deadline, shutting down the rumors that they were content with not making any calls before 4 pm on Tuesday.