Malcolm Butler back in the middle of the action against Texans

FOXBOROUGH — It was quite a week for Malcolm Butler.

Last week, the veteran cornerback appeared to be on the outs. He didn’t start against the Saints, and ended up playing 75 percent of the snaps, a surprisingly low total for someone who was on the field more than 95 percent of the time the previous two years. He acknowledged it was his overall level of play that was to blame for the dip in playing time against New Orleans, and continued echoed a theme that first started in the preseason where he was self-critical of his overall level of play.

On Sunday against the Texans, he was able to flip the script. He got the start, and while the final snap counts aren’t in yet, he appeared to come close to going wire-to-wire in the dramatic 36-33 win over the Texans, displaying the usual level of hair-on-fire intensity that marked much of his approach over the previous two seasons.

“I think I’m building,” he said after the victory, a game where he ended up with three tackles. “I think I’m taking it one step at a time. There’s a lot of football to be played so whatever you see, judge it.”

You could argue that one of the reasons he played as much as he did Sunday was because cornerback Eric Rowe was inactive because of a groin injury. Whatever the case, he sounded like a man with a new attitude. Asked if he played with a “little more energy” than usual on Sunday, he agreed.

“I think I let loose a little bit today,” he said. “Got to do that every game.”

Butler was asked if his confidence as a corner had been shaken as of late.

“Here and there,” he replied. “But that’s everybody. That’s everybody in life. No excuses.”

His teammates certainly didn’t sound like they ever lost faith in Butler.

“When you play corner in this league, you’re going to have some bad plays — it’s hard to go out there and pitch shutouts and play great every week,” said safety Devin McCourty.

“I think I said it during the week – to me, I thought I saw Malcolm out there competing his butt off every play anyway and trying to do that and trying to do what was best for the team, day in and day out, not just on Sundays but in practice. That’s how it goes in this league, and Malcolm’s a guy that didn’t get off course with anything, how he felt personally. He just kept at it.”