Patriots WR Provides New Update on Injury Timeline

A New England Patriots wide receiver offered an update about his return to the field from injury.

Oct 6, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (84) runs with the ball before a game against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots are gearing up for a very important Week 6 matchup against the Houston Texans. After losing four straight games, they have to figure out a way to get back in the win column.

Heading into this week, the Patriots have decided to make a major change. Drake Maye, the team's No. 3 overall pick, will be the starting quarterback. Jacoby Brissett has been benched.

While the debut of Maye brings a lot of excitement for New England, there are major concerns about the team's ability to provide him support.

Between the offensive line struggles and the lack of quality play from the wide receiver corps, a lot of things will need to pick up this week.

Kendrick Bourne, the team's clear-cut best wide receiver, was active for last week's game against the Miami Dolphins. In his first game back, he caught just one pass for six yards.

Those numbers don't look great, but he was far from unleashed to his usual role. He is taking it slow in his return to the field.

Keeping that in mind, Bourne spoke out about his status ahead of this week's game in a recent conference call. He's hoping to be fully back in the very near future for the Patriots.

“I would say about two more weeks," Bourne said. "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.”

Getting Bourne back in full would be huge for Maye. When he's healthy, he's an impact wide receiver.

Outside of Bourne, New England will need other receivers to step up for their rookie quarterback. Among the names that they need to play at a much higher level are Ja'Lynn Polk, DeMario Douglas, and K.J. Osborn.

All of that being said, Bourne certainly seems to be closing in on being 100 percent. Fans should expect to see even more from him this week than they saw in Week 5.

Hopefully, he's able to make a big impact for Maye and put up quality numbers. He's going to be a major key for the Patriots against the Texans.

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