Almost a full year after last playing in a game, Kendrick Bourne made his comeback on Sunday. The veteran wide receiver, who started the 2024 season on the physically unable to perform list, played 16 of a possible 60 offensive snaps in the New England Patriots’ loss to the Miami Dolphins.
For Bourne, that 27 percent workload was smaller than his normal output. Before tearing his ACL last October, the Patriots’ most reliable pass catcher at the time was on the field for 73 percent of snaps.
Obviously, the circumstances have changed quite a bit over the last 12 months, but Bourne is still expected to eventually return to a starter-level role this year. That return will eventually happen, but as he told reporters on a conference call Monday, he is not there just yet.
“I would say about two more weeks,” he explained. “They try to give me more time each week. Each week, I’ll try to get more reps and things like that. What did we have, about 50 snaps? So if I’m playing about 20 snaps — I think I played about 20 snaps, I’m not sure — but if I get 10 added, I’d say in about two more weeks I’ll be able to play a full game.”
Against the Dolphins, Bourne was the Patriots’ fourth wide receiver in terms of snaps. Rookie Ja’Lynn Polk continued to serve as the No. 1 option, playing all 60 snaps. Behind him, DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte played 40 snaps each.
The expectation is that Bourne increasing his own workload will cut into Boutte’s. For now and including the upcoming game against the Houston Texans, however, patience will still be the name of the game for the 29-year-old.
He has gotten used to it.
“It was a bummer at the beginning to start on [PUP]. I wanted to be out there for my team,” Bourne said. “But I feel like their plan for me and the process that I went through fully, I took it head-on. And then to get to that point at the start of the season, I wanted to play but it was just the best decision for me.”
As a result, Bourne used adjectives like “great” and “normal” to describe his experience returning to the field versus Miami.
“It felt great. My knee felt normal. And I think taking those four weeks was important. Instead of just rushing and trying to — just to rush would have been a bad idea,” Bourne said.
“I felt like myself. I couldn’t play the whole game, I’m still going through the process but overall I felt good. Just to be able to run and break and cut, it felt normal.”
