Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne took the field for the first time in 11 months on Sunday, making his return from the torn ACL that ended his 2023 season.

He’d grade his first game back as “needs improvement.”

“I can be a lot better,” Bourne said after New England’s 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. “I was definitely disappointed. I could have [done] more.”

Bourne did not start the game and was on the field for less than half of the Patriots’ offensive snaps, rotating with fellow wideouts Polk, DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. He caught his lone target from quarterback Jacoby Brissett for a 6-yard gain midway through the fourth quarter.

Mayo said Bourne looked “healthy” during practice last week, but the energetic 29-year-old admitted he’s still working his way through the mental side of his comeback. This was the first prolonged layoff of his NFL career, as he missed just three games from the start of the 2018 season until his injury last October.

“I’m just kind of still building up,” Bourne said. “They can’t just throw me out there. So that’s just a learning experience that I’m going through. I’ve never been through it, so it’s just something I’ve got to learn. It’s good for me, though. It’s humbling and things like that. It just works on my mental side. It’s a mental state that I would never experience unless I went through the injury. So I’m just trying to refine myself at every opportunity I get.”

Bourne’s return could lead to a receiving corps shakeup once the rest of that group gets healthy.

K.J. Osborn, who started the first four games, missed Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. Tyquan Thornton hardly played in the loss, and rookie Javon Baker was a healthy scratch.