What Kendrick Bourne’s injury means for Mac Jones, Patriots
The blows keep on coming.
Some have been delivered by coach Bill Belichick’s decision-making. Others have been self-induced. And the latest, when tests revealed Monday that Jones’ go-to receiver Kendrick Bourne tore his right ACL, are simply an unfortunate part of the game.
Add them all up and the Patriots (2-6) find themselves in last place in the entire AFC with a lingering question hovering over the franchise: After selecting Jones with the 15th overall pick of the 2021 draft, and seeing him flourish as a rookie, how will the flurry of jabs and uppercuts he’s absorbed since impact the future?
The quarterback contrast of what unfolded Sunday in the team’s 31-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins was striking.
On one side was the Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who not long ago faced a similar question after a topsy-turvy first two years in the NFL. Those have since been extinguished after he was paired with innovative coach Mike McDaniel and top-flight receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
On the other side was Jones, playing under his third offensive playcaller in three years and not surrounded by close to the same level of pass-catching threats as Tagovailoa. His old top option, Jakobi Meyers, wasn’t re-signed in free agency in favor of JuJu Smith-Schuster (the team’s fifth receiver Sunday) and his new No. 1 threat Bourne is now out for the season.
“That’s always challenging for any quarterback in this league, when you lose one of your most dynamic playmakers. It certainly doesn’t make your job any easier,” captain Matthew Slater said of Bourne’s injury. “It goes without saying that Mac, as well as the rest of this football team, have been through a lot of adversity. We’re building some character here.”
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A case can be made that, due in part to those factors, the Patriots can’t fairly assess Jones before they have to decide by May whether to pick up his fifth-year contract option for 2025.
At the same time, Jones would likely acknowledge there are things he can do better in response to the adversity. The interception he threw late in the second quarter Sunday — intended for Bourne — was the type of game-altering mistake that had some wondering if he might lose his starting job earlier in the season (he said after the game that he was late on the play and needed to drive the ball).
The team hoped he’d put those miscues behind him after leading a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback the week prior against the Buffalo Bills. When Jones has thrown at least one interception in a game this season, the Patriots are 0-6. When he’s been interception-free, they are 2-0.
After Sunday’s game, Jones said: “We don’t want to be in this position. It’s tough. So now what?”
That was his way of saying he intends to stay in the fight as Bourne’s void — combined with veteran DeVante Parker entering concussion protocol after a helmet-to-helmet hit that somehow went unpenalized — leads to a significant receiver shake-up.
Bourne had been carrying the heaviest load — playing a receiver-high 73% of the offensive snaps — followed by Parker (65%). His 34 receptions are easily the most among receivers, with Parker’s 14 tied for the second. And Bourne has been targeted 57 times, more than double the total of any other receiver on the roster.
Jalen Reagor, rookie Demario “Pop” Douglas and Smith-Schuster are now the top three on the depth chart, with 2022 second-round pick Tyquan Thornton (a healthy scratch Sunday) and 2023 sixth-rounder Kayshon Boutte (inactive since the season opener) next in line.
The 5-foot-11, 197-pound Reagor drew praise from Belichick for his work as a scout-team receiver, and after he had been elevated from the practice squad the maximum three times, he was signed to the 53-man roster last week. A speedy 2020 first-round pick of the Eagles who spent last season with the Vikings, he said he feels like he has nothing to lose since he’s already been referred to by others as a bust.
The 5-8, 192-pound Douglas is a quick slot receiver whose playing time has spiked the past two weeks (78 of 113 snaps). He is often sent in motion before the snap, making him a threat as a runner with the possibility of taking a handoff, and has been targeted 13 times the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, Smith-Schuster had slipped down the depth chart after signing a three-year contract as a free agent in the offseason, which includes $16 million in guarantees, but now he’s back where he began the season.
And the speedy Thornton’s development hasn’t unfolded as projected — injuries haven’t helped his cause — and while Boutte impressed in the preseason, he seems to be viewed by the coaching staff as ideally being developed behind the scenes as a rookie.
Because they were carrying seven receivers on the roster leading into Sunday’s game, coupled with their record, it’s unlikely the Patriots would acquire a pass-catcher before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET NFL trade deadline.
In the wake of Bourne’s injury, Jones sees a chance for other receivers to step up.
“I really want them to take advantage of the opportunity,” Jones said Monday in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI. “I believe in a lot of those guys, and I want to grow with the young players, and see what we can do to build for the future too.”