Demario Douglas clears concussion protocol and should return vs. Chiefs

FOXBORO -- The Patriots' offense will get a big boost Sunday when New England hosts the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. Rookie receiver Demario Douglas has cleared concussion protocol and has been taken off the injury report for Sunday's game.

Earlier on Friday, head coach Bill Belichick told reporters that Douglas "should be available" to return to action after missing the last two games with a concussion. Given he's been taken off the injury report, Douglas made it through Friday's walkthrough without any setbacks.

Despite missing those two games (and another earlier in the season), Douglas still leads New England with 410 receiving yards in his rookie campaign. He's done that on 36 catches (second-most on the team), with five of those receptions going for 20 or more yards. Douglas also has 29 yards on the ground off four carries.

Getting Douglas back in the mix is great news for Bailey Zappe this weekend, as the QB had just three receivers for Week 14's win over the Steelers: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jalen Reagor, and Tyquan Thornton. In addition to Douglas, rookie Kayshon Boutte (shoulder) and veteran DeVante Parker (knee) missed last week's win.

Boutte was also removed from Friday's injury report, while Parker and Thornton (hamstring) were limited on Friday and are listed as questionable for Sunday's game.

Get ready for Patriots-Chiefs Friday night with Patriots All Access on WBZ-TV at 7 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay, and after the game switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!