Butler knows why he was benched

FOXBORO — Darius Butler knows he’s got some work to do to to earn back the trust of Bill Belichick and the Patriots defensive staff.

Step one on Wednesday might have been seen as actually fessing up to his disastrous performance in Week 2 at the Meadowlands.

The Patriots right corner said he understood why he was benched on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, one week after being targeted by Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in a 28-14 loss in Week 2. Several times, Butler was in man coverage on Braylon Edwards, and the wide receiver burned him for five catches and a touchdown.

He was also in coverage on Dustin Keller, who had seven grabs for 115 yards and a score as Sanchez threw for 220 yards and three TDs.

“This is a production business, and if you’re not producing, you’re not going to be on the field on Sunday,” Butler said Wednesday. “I guess my play wasn’t up to par and I wasn’t on the field and that’s obviously where I want to be so I have to do whatever it takes to get back on there.”

Butler was replaced at right corner by Kyle Arrington on Sunday and didn’t appear in the Bills game until the second quarter.

Butler came in on nickel coverage and promptly allowed a nine-yard first-down reception to Roscoe Parrish to the Patriots 23 on 2nd-and-5.

He seemed to gather his bearings in the second half and played better. Whether that was good enough will likely be determined this week at practice.

“It was good because we got a win,” Butler said of the 38-30 slugfest. “Obviously, every player wants to be on the field every snap. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. But now I’m moving on to this week.

“I knew I wasn’t starting. The game played out how it played out how it played. l didn’t get too many plays. That’s how it happened.”