After a third-straight loss, the Patriots expect a boost this week on offense with Jerod Mayo confirming on Monday morning that Kendrick Bourne will be activated off of the PUP list after sitting out the team's first four games.
Bourne was part of the team's travel party to San Francisco as the Pats took on the 49ers, the team where he spent the first four seasons of his career, registering 137 catches and 21 touchdowns during that span.
"Yeah, he's about ready to go," Mayo told The Greg Hill Show on Monday morning. "I thought it was good to bring him on the trip just to get back in the routine and the process of being on an away trip."
Bourne was on a career pace last season before going down with an ACL injury in Week 8 against the Dolphins. At that point, just under halfway through the season, he had 37 catches for 406 yards with four touchdowns. When projected out to the rest of the season, Bourne was likely to approach 80 catches and nearly 1,000 yards, totals that would easily surpass his best year which came in 2021 with the Patriots when he had 55 catches and 800 yards with five touchdowns.
After an admitted down year in 2022, Bourne was on a mission in 2023, a mission that was cut short and can now finally resume.
"I didn't give the team my best effort," admitted Bourne in summer 2023 about his 2022 season. "Personally we as players have to be our best so we can give the team the opportunity to win and I feel like I didn't do that. So I've been grinding, trying to get bigger, weighing more, just being a more solid receiver and being able to do more.
"I don't really go off stats, I go off how I feel, how I look and I just wasn't in a good place, now I just want to avoid that. So it was a good learning process, it was good that it happened to me, and it's always good to learn from hard times, struggling times."
His return comes at just the right time, with the Patriots offense struggling to jumpstart their passing attack. They set a season-high against the 49ers with 143 passing yards, but that total is still far from where they need to be. The versatile Bourne played 261 snaps outside and 107 in the slot, as he can contribute to the offense from different locations and will give offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt a new veteran target to deploy.
Despite hitting free agency while coming off the serious injury, the Patriots still gave Bourne a second contact, a three-year deal worth $19.5 million with $5.5 million guaranteed. It will keep Bourne with the Pats through 2026.
But it was more than just his 2023 production that put Bourne in the team's long-term plans, as his energy and tone-setting positivity have been constants since he arrived in 2021. Though he started the summer on the PUP list, Bourne was a recurring presence during training camp.
While he'll likely be eased into action and could take a couple of weeks before he's activated to the roster, his impact will be felt from more than just the plays he's on the field for. He might not take the Patriots offense to the next level by himself but his return is a welcome boost of positivity and experience that could provide a spark for the entire unit.
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