Patriots Wideout Jokes About Playing ‘Madden’ To Prep For Eagles

Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne is getting a head start on preparing for New England's season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

But Bourne isn't diving into his playbook or watching film to get ready for the matchup -- at least not at the moment. Instead, he's putting a video game controller into his hands.

Bourne posted an Instagram story Thursday night of him playing "Madden '24" with the two teams on the screen being the Patriots and Eagles. Bourne jokingly captioned the picture, "Getting ready lol." You can check out the post here, which was shared on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, by the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan.

It sure is comical for Bourne to pull a page out of Kyler Murray's playbook. The only thing he got wrong is he had his game in "Madden" being played at Lincoln Financial Field instead of a Gillette Stadium, which is where the Week 1 tilt will take place.

Bourne surely will take up more conventional studying of the opponent as the game gets closer. He is eyeing a bounce-back season, which he seems primed for after a strong preseason and even impressing Bill Belichick.

Perhaps Bourne will even pick up a detail or two from playing "Madden" that will help the Patriots when they take on the Eagles next Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.