FOXBOROUGH – Not long after San Francisco beat the Los Angeles Rams in Thursday Night Football, sparked by Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne, a trio of former Patriots, led DeMario Douglas, reached out to the 49ers receiver.
It was a group chat with Douglas, Tyquan Thornton and JuJu Smith-Schuster, now with the Kansas City Chiefs, all joining in to congratulate Bourne, who starred in the Niners 26-23 win catching 10 passes from Jones for a career-high 142 receiving yards.
Bourne was cut by the Patriots in late August. But that didn’t completely cut his ties to New England, as the castoffs still keep in touch.
Thornton and Smith-Schuster have also found success outside of New England, but this was Bourne’s first real splash.
“It was me, Ty, JuJu and (Bourne) all in a group chat, and I told them, ‘I’m proud of you boys’ because they’re all doing their thing,” Douglas said following the Patriots practice Friday. “I told them to keep going. All of us, we’re still close. And Mac Jones balled out, too.”
Jones, who went from the Patriots, to the Jaguars, and now the 49ers, had one of his best nights completing 33-of-49 for 342 yards, while tossing a pair of touchdown passes. He was subbing in for the injured Brock Purdy.
Bourne served as a mentor for Douglas the past two seasons and change. While Douglas is currently struggling to make an impact in the Patriots offense, he was glad to see Bourne thrive with the 49ers.
“It was nice seeing my boy go out there and ball,” Douglas said. “I always knew he could hoop.
“I’m not surprised to see him in that light, doing good. I’m really happy for him.”
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