Patriots need Javon Baker to ‘continue to develop, both on the field and off the field’

New England wide receiver Javon Baker was a healthy scratch for last Sundays season-opening win over Cincinnati.

Daniel Kucin Jr./Associated Press FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

Javon Baker was an early training camp standout for the Patriots, but the rookie wide receiver has had an inauspicious start to the regular season.

Baker wound up as a healthy scratch in the season-opening win over the Bengals with Coach Jerod Mayo electing instead to dress rookie JaLynn Polk, DeMario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton, K.J.

Osborn and Kayshon Boutte.

Mayo was asked Wednesday morning if Baker, a fourth-round pick out of UCF, being listed among the Patriots inactives was disciplinary in nature.

The young wide receiver went live on Instagram late last month in a profanity-laced video to complain about receiving a ticket from police near Logan Airport, leading Mayo to say it in no way represents what the organization is about, in no way represents what we are about as a team, or how Javon needs to go out there and represent himself.

At the time, Mayo said that Baker had been punished but it wouldnt affect his game status.

Baker then went on to tell Pro Football Networks Dakota Randall that he didnt regret what he said in the Instagram Live video.

I dont want to get into a lot of that, Mayo said Wednesday when asked if Baker was inactive as punishment.

What I will say is he has to continue to progress and continue to develop, both on the field and off the field, and thats my responsibility ultimately.

Its tough to tell what led Baker to being inactive because he was buried on the depth chart behind Polk, Douglas, Thornton and Osborn by the end of the summer.

Drops and miscommunication plagued Baker from the Patriots first preseason game through the end of training camp.

Baker still has plenty of promise if he can put it all together.

He averaged an astronomical 21.9 yards per catch on 52 receptions last season at UCF and was once a four-star recruit who began his college career at Alabama.

BROWNS: A woman accusing Deshaun Watson of sexual assault may meet in the next two weeks with the NFL, which is investigating the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks off-field behavior, the womans lawyer said Thursday.

Attorney Tony Buzbee said in an email to several media outlets that his client, who filed a civil lawsuit in Houston on Monday accusing Watson of sexual assault and battery, will soon speak with the league.

Additionally, Buzbee, who represented two dozen other women in suits against Watson, said he has a video and two additional witnesses.

Watson, who served an 11-game suspension to start the 2022 season over the earlier allegations, could face additional punishment if he did not disclose the incident with this woman during the leagues previous inquiries.

This incident took place in 2020, according to the lawsuit.

OBITUARY: Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died.

He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday.

A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro footballs first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65.

An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

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