Patriots hype up veteran receiver following benching vs. Bears

3 hours ago 1

The New England Patriots currently have seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster, which makes it difficult to find playing time for each guy, especially with some young options needing time to learn and grow.

This past week, New England decided to make six of them active for the game against the Chicago Bears, but Kendrick Bourne didn't play a single snap during the contest.

Bourne was honest about his disappointment earlier this week.

“It was tough,” Bourne told the Boston Herald. “But I’m self-evaluating and looking at myself, how I could be better. So, that’s really just how I got to look at it. You know, watching the film honestly, of my last four games, I could be a lot better, lot more crisp. And that’s just kind of how I’m gonna go about moving forward is being more clean, being better.”

However, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had some great things to say about the veteran wideout.

“(He's) a great teammate," Maye said during his weekly WEEI appearance. "A great leader on this team… You’re definitely gonna see him again throughout the rest of the season. Excited to have him out there. Shoot, I think he had some nice catches against Tennessee… really as a rookie I’m not really controlling who’s out there. I’m more worried about doing my job.”

Similar sentiments were also echoed by fellow Patriots wide receivers, Ja'Lynn Polk and Kayshon Boutte.

“(He’s) a guy that comes in each and every day with a lot of energy," Polk stated (via. MassLive). "We love that from him. We love all the support we have with one another.”

“All our guys support each other regardless of if we’re playing or not," Boutte said. "It’s just that leadership from the veterans, showing good body language and cheering us on.”

Bourne has been in trouble in New England during Bill Belichick's tenure when he wasn't engaged and playing well, but this hasn't gotten to that point yet. And, considering K.J. Osborn, who played over Bourne last week, didn't do anything against Chicago, the two could flip roles against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11.