Kendrick Bourne still has the trust of his starting quarterback amid a rocky second summer with the New England Patriots.
Mac Jones on Tuesday praised Bourne, who's been disappointingly unproductive in training camp practices and seems to have fallen behind some of his fellow veterans on the Patriots' receiver depth chart.
"I love Kendrick, and he's working hard," Jones said on WEEI's "Merloni, Fauria & Mego." "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, like I always say."
Bourne, one of the Patriots' top offensive playmakers last season, was ejected from one joint practice last week for fighting, caught an earful from head coach Bill Belichick for an apparent lack of readiness and later "wasn't available" for last Friday's preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, according to Belichick.
Tuesday's joint practice with the Raiders in Las Vegas was another mixed bag for the 27-year-old wideout. Bourne dropped a would-be touchdown from Jones and spent much of practice running with the second- and third-team offense before rebounding with a touchdown catch from Jones on the starters' final rep of 11-on-11 drills.
Bourne, who's recently become the subject of trade rumors, celebrated that score with an emphatic spike.
"KB is still positive," Jones said on WEEI, "and we're just really happy to have him on our team."
The Patriots and Raiders will practice again Wednesday before closing out the preseason with a game Friday night at Allegiant Stadium.
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