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What’s going on with Kendrick Bourne?
That’s the question many are asking about the usually jovial and energetic New England Patriots wide receiver who had a career season in 2021 and was expected to play an even bigger role for the team in 2022.
Unfortunately, he’s seemingly struggling on the practice field and making some decisions that have led to an ejection from a training camp session and a demotion on Wednesday.
Kendrick Bourne Gets Ejected From Practice on Tuesday
The Patriots and the Panthers had a spicy couple of days of joint practices this week. The two teams brawled multiple times, with one fracas spilling into the crowd. Bourne was involved in one of the smaller skirmishes before the biggest brawl on Tuesday.
His involvement in that dust-up led to him getting ejected along with fellow wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson. The two are seen here walking off the field together after they were tossed.
Babz of the Boston Sports Hour posted the video and his own commentary:
To make matters worse for Bourne, before he was involved in the scrap, he was asked to leave the field by an official who was working the joint practice for an unknown reason. The move angered Bill Belichick, who reprimanded Bourne for the delay.
It appeared something was off with Bourne and may have impacted his performance and preparedness.
Kendrick Bourne is Relegated to Working With Reserves on Wednesday
On Wednesday, Providence Journal’s Mark Daniels believed Belichick was sending Bourne a message. The receiver was allowed to return to practice, but he was relegated to working with the reserves rather than the first unit.
As Daniels indicated, this doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Could Bourne be a little too comfortable after a 2021 season that saw him set career highs in receiving yards and receptions?
Could he be frustrated with the offense’s well-documented struggles? Perhaps the answer is a little bit of both. In any case, the message seemed clear from Belichick: get it together, or we will play someone in your spot who is more with the program.
Patriots WR Room Takes a Hit
Wilkerson, who had been a main focal point of the drama between the Patriots and Panthers this week, went down with a head injury after a hit from Carolina’s Kenny Robinson. Despite the Patriots’ WR being injured, Robinson stood over Wilkerson in a taunting posture, much to the chagrin of his head coach Matt Rhule and several members of the Patriots roster.
Many, including Rhule, admitted this behavior played a role in the brawl escalating.
To add insult to injury, Wilkerson suffered a concussion due to the hit, per The Athletic’s Jeff Howe. We don’t know how long Wilkerson will be out, but it is a blow to the Patriots’ preseason process.
Wilkerson had a solid chance of making the 53-man roster after leading the team in receptions and yards against the New York Giants in the preseason opener. New England will now have DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers, Bourne, and rookie Tyquan Thornton seeing the most action receiver with Tre Nixon and Nelson Agholor slotting in.
Agholor stands to gain the most from Wilkerson’s absence. Wilkerson had a chance to make Agholor expendable after a tough 2021 for the latter. Now with Wilkerson shelved healing the head injury, Agholor seems like much more of a lock to make the team.
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