BATON ROUGE – LSU football coach Brian Kelly believes star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte is the “least worried guy on our offense.”
Boutte struggled in his first game of the season, catching just 2 of 6 targets for 20 yards in the Tigers’ wild 24-23 loss to Florida State on Sunday. After the game, he also deleted all mentions of LSU on his Instagram page.
“Obviously it was a tough day for him,” Kelly told reporters Tuesday. “It wasn’t the best, but he’s going to have great games. And it will be the totality of his work that will be evaluated.”
The Seminoles defeated LSU after Damian Ramos blocked an extra point to nullify a 99-yard touchdown drive in the final 1:20 that would have tied the game. It was one of many special teams mistakes at LSU, as the Tigers missed two punts and blocked a field goal.
Wide receiver Malik Nabers, who missed both punts, also deleted all of his Instagram posts after the game.
“We’ve spent some time and worked on some things that will help you handle the scrutiny,” Kelly said. “And frankly, the scrutiny was strong and his reaction was probably similar to what my reaction would be when I was 60 years old. He has handled it in a way that he will learn from and continue to grow from.”
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Kelly admitted to The Advertiser in May that he “fired a shot” at Boutte before spring practice. At the time, Kelly told reporters that the star receiver didn’t attend training before spring practice and that he needed to learn to “take part in everything, whether he’s injured or not.”
Boutte was recovering from a second ankle surgery after suffering the injury against Kentucky in 2021.
“He’s a great player. He’s a good kid. But this has been a tough time for him,” Kelly said in March. “And what happens is you tend to get distracted because you’re not involved in everything. But he’s learning that you have to be involved in everything, injured or not.”
Boutte had 37 receptions for 503 yards and nine touchdowns in just six games played in 2021. He was on Fred Biletnikoff’s preseason watch list and an AP preseason first-team All-American this year.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.