Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has an opportunity to pick up with the 49ers where he left off five seasons ago.
“We’re pumped to have him back here,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday on a conference call with reporters.
“We’ll see how he does when he gets back on the practice field Wednesday.”
The 49ers and Bourne agreed to a one-year contract that could pay him up to $5 million with reachable incentives, Bourne’s agent, Henry Organ, told NBC Sports Bay Area.
Bourne joined the 49ers on Monday and took part in a team meeting at their Santa Clara practice facility, Shanahan said.
Bourne, 30, played his first four NFL seasons with the 49ers after signing as an undrafted rookie from Eastern Washington.
Bourne appeared in 58 games with the 49ers. He caught 137 passes for 1,769 yards and 11 touchdowns from 2017 through 2020.
Bourne signed with the New England Patriots as a free agent. He caught 155 passes for 1,945 yards and 11 touchdowns in 53 games across four seasons.
“We love K.B. from his time here,” Shanahan said. “He did a hell of a job while he was in New England.”
The Patriots released Bourne last week. The 49ers brought him in for a workout but offered only a spot on the team’s practice squad, a source said.
After the 49ers’ Week 1 victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, San Francisco came through with an offer to Bourne for a spot on the 53-man roster, the source said.
Quarterback Brock Purdy’s status for the 49ers’ Week 2 game against the New Orleans Saints is in question due to left shoulder and toe injuries.
The 49ers’ backup quarterback Is Mac Jones. Bourne and Jones were teammates for three seasons with the Patriots.
Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings were the only wide receivers that Purdy targeted with passes on Sunday.
Pearsall caught four passes for 108 yards, while Jennings had two catches for 16 yards.
Jennings’ status for the 49ers’ Week 2 game against the New Orleans Saints is unclear due to a shoulder injury.
Russell Gage, who was elevated from the practice squad, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling played 28 and 27 snaps, respectively, without seeing any action in the passing game.
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