Bourne opens up on ACL recovery, his 2024 goals
The moment Kendrick Bourne tore his ACL late last October, he put the start of his 2024 season in jeopardy.
Recovery, particularly for skill-position players, usually requires a 9- to 12-month recovery period.
Bourne, however, is tracking to be ready for Week 1.
The Patriots’ veteran receiver opened up about his ongoing rehab Thursday on the “Pats Interference podcast,” saying he expects to be “primed up” to participate in minicamp this June and ready for the start of training camp come late July. Bourne said he’ll be jumping and running at full speed next month, while he works on strength and training other movements in the meantime.
“Everything is kind of back to normal in a sense,” he said. “It’s just re-learning how to break down. It’s just the landing, it’s the stopping that I’m really focusing on now. These first four months have been really good for me.”
To expedite his rehab, the 28-year-receiver has been living with a physical therapist who’s provided regular care at Bourne’s home in Portland, Oregon. Bourne left the team shortly after tearing his knee in a Week 8 loss at Miami on Oct. 29 and underwent surgery in Los Angeles. He later moved back to Portland, where recently he’s invited teammates Tyquan Thornton, Demario Douglas and Bailey Zappe to work out with him at Nike headquarters.
Bourne returned to the Patriots last Sunday night, when he agreed to terms on a 3-year, $19.5 million contract. The team-friendly deal includes just $5.5 million in guarantees, but allows Bourne to guarantee another $2.5 million in 2025 if he reaches 800 receiving yards next season. If he hits all of his incentives, Bourne can make up to $33 million.
The eight-year veteran said he took a hands-off approach to free agency, trusting his agent and the Patriots’ front office to find a fair deal.
“Not really stressing, just knowing what I’m worth, but knowing that’s somewhere I wanted to be. So if that’s what the Patriots felt I was worth, then I was OK with it. (It’s) just negotiating,” Bourne said. “So I was really kind of in the unknown, not really calling and stressing. I was just being calm and going through my normal day.”
He added: “(My agent) read it down to me, and I said, ‘I like the deal.’ I’m not really chasing a billion dollars. I’m chasing legacy.”
Bourne said watching “The Dynasty,” a Patriots documentary currently running on Apple TV+, gave him more motivation to return. Bourne first revealed to ESPN last month that he hoped to re-sign in New England, something he later repeated to other outlets around the Super Bowl.
Now having finally re-signed, Bourne shared some of his goals for the 2024 season.
“I’ve grown here in the first three years, rapidly; just in my personal life, as a football player, and now I want to be a captain. That is my biggest goal this year,” he said. “I want to be a leader. Having the young guys out here has shown me that I am impactful. The energy I carry is impactful.”
Jones has his say: Quarterback Mac Jones described his trade to the Jaguars as a “mutual parting of ways” from the Patriots during his introductory press conference Thursday.
Jones, a Jacksonville native, was traded to the Jaguars for a 2024 sixthround pick. The deal was made over the weekend but officially announced Thursday. It was one of the first major decisions Patriots new de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo made since taking over for Bill Belichick.