FOXBORO -- Brandon Bolden was activated to the Patriots 53-man roster before Monday night's game against the Texans and played -- on special teams and as a running back late in the game -- in his team's 42-14 win. It was his first game back after serving a four-game suspension for using performance-enhancers.
"It felt good," Bolden said. "I havent done that in a while, so it felt pretty good."
Bolden explained how he tried to move on after hearing the news that he would be suspended.
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"Just took it as it came," he said. "It was a mistake. Saddened that it happened, but the team kept going so just gotta keep moving forward."
Suspended players are not allowed to use team facilities, but he said he did his best to stay in shape while away from Gillette Stadium.
"Just worked," he said. "Worked as hard as I could for as long as I could, just to make sure I didn't fall too far off."
Bolden had two carries for 11 yards in his return against Houston. The undrafted rookie back out of Ole Miss has accumulated 245 yards and two touchdowns on 45 carries this season. He was named the FedEx Ground Player of the Week for his Week 4 performance when he had 137 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
At the time of his suspension, he was dealing with a knee injury, but he was not listed on the injury report last week as the Patriots prepared for the Texans.