Patriots QB Mac Jones continues to support Kendrick Bourne, ‘he’s working hard’
Bourne’s name has been floated in trade rumors the last week
Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne hasn’t had the greatest preseason. The 27-year-old wideout has been reportedly in head coach Bill Belichick’s doghouse after being ejected for fighting in a practice against Carolina.
With New England in Las Vegas to play the Raiders for their final preseason game, there’s been speculation that Bourne could remain in Vegas after the game.
The Patriots are looking to shed some salary prior to the start of the season. Reportedly New England has been shopping tackle Isaiah Wynn in the hopes to clear $10.4 million off the books.
Albert Breer of SI.com speculates that Bourne could be the odd man out in New England.
"His financials are manageable ($3.75 million, plus $750K in per-game roster bonuses), he’d shown some frustration with the offensive changes over the last few months, and just got done with a weird week," Breer said. "I think the Patriots will get some calls on him, at the very least. And I think they’d feel compelled to listen, too, given their own situation."
Trading Bourne doesn’t make much sense, considering the team will be without rookie wide receiver Tyquan Thornton with a collarbone injury.
Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has a lot of respect for Bourne. Jones has expressed confidence in his wideout while in Las Vegas this week.
“I love Kendrick and he’s working hard,” the quarterback said. “The plays will come. Even last year during camp a little bit, he was trying to learn everything and find his role and he didn’t get as many balls. Then the season came and he got a lot of throws.
“So you never know when your time is going to come. You’ve just got to keep working, line up right, and do your route, and eventually, they’ll come. You can’t chase plays.’’
There’s been a chemistry developed between Bourne and Jones that Patriots fans would love to see continue. With Thornton out for the majority of the season makes trading Bourne unlikely. Belichick isn’t afraid to shake things up prior to the start of the season.
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