As the New England Patriots prepare to face the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, it sounds like they may get a key player back on offense ahead of this match-up.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Friday that Douglas has finally been cleared from concussion protocol, which should hopefully see him return to action.
Douglas hasn’t played since Week 12 against the Giants, after playing in 49% of the snaps while leading the team with six receptions for 49-yards in what turned out to be a frustrating 10-7 loss at MetLife.
Prior to this week, he had missed all of the team’s six previous practices and was inactive against both the Chargers and Steelers. However, it sounds like the door has now opened up for his return this weekend.
This will be Douglas’ first full game with Bailey Zappe, with the second-year QB expected to start again this weekend. The two have connected on just 4-of-8 for 32-yards this season, but their chemistry has actually gotten better as of late. The two connected on 3-of-3 for 23-yards in Zappe’s second half against New York, and seemed to be more on the same page compared to previous outings.
They were just 1-of-5 for 9-yards during Zappe’s previous relief appearances, so hopefully that progress will continue this weekend.
Overall, Douglas heads into this weekend with 36 catches for 410 yards on the year. Even despite missing three games this year, Douglas also still currently leads all receivers in third-down receptions, hauling in 11 catches for 163 yards, with seven of those grabs moving the chains.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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