Patriots Daily: Javon Baker Scrutinized on Boston Sports Radio

The New England Patriots drafted Javon Baker in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. At the time, he was the highest-ranked player remaining on my board. Just the same, he was not my live pick at that spot (No. 110 overall). My “live pick” was Kansas edge Austin Booker, who eventually went No. 144 to the Chicago Bears. But were there reasons Baker was still available other than teams valuing other players or positions more?

Friday’s “Zolak & Bertrand” show, on 98.5 The Sports Hub, discussed Javon Baker at length. It was not complimentary.

Baker went on Instagram Live last Sunday. He complained after getting ticketed at Boston’s Logan Airport. Head coach Jerod Mayo later apologized for Baker’s comments, saying they didn’t represent the organization. But Baker opted against a public apology, saying he had no regrets.

Bad Position for Baker

Javon Baker has a few things working against him already. This isn’t ideal for a player yet to play a single NFL game. His lack of preseason production combined with the off-field incident, however minor some may view it, opened up the floodgates to people piling on. And in Boston sports media, there will always be people happy to pile on.

Now radio hosts are talking about Baker’s behavior in college, his having a helicopter father, and other NFL teams taking him off their draft boards altogether. Co-hosts Marc Bertrand and Scott Zolak discussed the fourth-round pick reportedly showing up to training camp with an entourage. This supposedly put off some around the building. They mentioned how Baker was unlikely to be active for the Patriots’ Week 1 game against the Bengals.

Luckily for Baker, the rookie has plenty of time to turn things around in New England. The easiest way for any athlete to silence critics is by performing well. Zolak mentioned his former teammate Terry Glenn showing up with an entourage in New England. Glenn was the No. 7 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, though. He went on to amass 90 receptions for 1,132 yards as a rookie and helped the Patriots reach Super Bowl 31. Even head coach Bill Parcells, who famously used “she” as a pronoun for Glenn, got silenced by the rookie’s play.

If Javon Baker blossoms into a productive wide receiver for the New England Patriots, he’ll be able to get away with far less public scrutiny. Being an NFL player comes with a certain level of fame and living under a microscope. But performing well lends itself to far more leeway. At the risk of oversimplifying Baker’s situation, he truly needs to either put up or shut up. His cocky swagger will either endear him to people as he excels or expedite his exit from Foxboro. If Baker doesn’t believe me, just ask Jack Jones.

Also in Saturday’s Patriots Daily:

Patriots Fact/Trivia of the Day

The New England Patriots have two rookie wide receivers on their 53-man roster, Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. There have been nine rookie wide receivers in franchise history to amass at least 500 yards receiving as rookies. A look at the leaderboard:

1,132 – Terry Glenn, 1996
872 – Randy Vataha, 1971
795 – Hart Lee Dykes, 1989
705 – Ron Sellers, 1969
626 – Vincent Brisby, 1993
561 – DeMario Douglas, 2023
550 – Art Graham, 1963
519 – Aaron Dobson, 2013
502 – Will Moore, 1995

Post of the Day

Today’s post comes from The 33rd Team, following Saquon Barkley‘s Philadelphia Eagles debut last night:

The Giants execs probably aren’t sleeping well after Saquon's Eagles debut https://t.co/lQgXZUvUi3 pic.twitter.com/D4RFY7jNCp

— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 7, 2024

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