The New England Patriots did not have the 2022 campaign that they were hoping for, and it's clear they are looking to embark on an organizational reset after last year. From top to bottom, the Pats were a mess last season, and many of their changes made over the offseason were made in hopes of fixing their mistakes from last year. And yet in June, Kendrick Bourne is already looking to bring all of that back.
Bourne was one of the biggest victims of the 2022 Patriots woes, going from having a breakout campaign in 2021 to seeing the field sparingly in 2022. Bourne admitted that part of that was his own fault, but he's already taking shots at former offensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who put Bourne in the doghouse from the get-go for no clear reason.
For a team that is looking to move on from their ugly 2022 campaign, this is exactly what they don't need, and it's not even training camp yet; this has literally come during OTAs. Bourne is already digging up ghosts of the past that this team doesn't want to remember, and for a guy who is hopefully going to have a return to form in 2023, it isn't exactly a great sign.
Kendrick Bourne's shots at Matt Patricia aren't a good sign for Patriots
After hauling in 55 passes for 800 yards and five touchdowns in 2021, Bourne was supposed to be a key piece of New England's offense in 2022. Instead, he caught just 35 passes for 434 yards and one touchdown, playing sparingly in most games because of his supposed beef with Patricia. Chances are that will change this season.
Let's make no mistake about it; there was no reason for Bourne to not be playing for New England last year. He has a great relationship with Mac Jones, and when he played, he was productive. Whoever's decision it was to glue Bourne to the bench, whether it was Patricia or someone else, made a mistake, and the Pats were rightfully burned for it.
Bourne has shown up at OTAs with a desire to be featured in the offense again, and having Bill O'Brien taking over the reins as the team's new offensive coordinator should be great for Bourne. However, Bourne's recent comments on O'Brien were sort of a double-edged sword, as he clearly took a stab at Patricia, who is now part of the Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff.
“Bill’s familiar with what he’s doing, so it feels good. You can tell he knows what he’s doing in all areas of the offense from receiver, linemen, running back, he knows offense a lot so it feels good. He’s doing well. He knows how to engage with all of us, I feel like. He knows our traits right now and he knows where to put us. So it’s been good. We’re still learning each other as a group. But he’s doing well. You can tell he knows what he’s doing.” – Kendrick Bourne, Audacy
It's great that O'Brien is helping Bourne out, but you cannot look at these comments and believe they aren't aimed at Patricia as well. Patricia took a lot of grief (rightfully so) for bungling his job as the offensive coordinator, and chances are he had no idea what he was doing. If you ask Bourne, it's great that O'Brien “knows what he's doing.”
On one hand, Bourne's praise of O'Brien is great. But on the other hand, he's taking shots at Patricia for no reason; he's hitting a guy who has been a punching bag in New England for months now. For a team looking to move forward, it's not exactly a great sign that Bourne is still looking to throw punches at Patricia.
From Bourne's perspective, this also isn't something he needs to be saying. Bourne didn't exactly make a great impression with coaches during training camp, when he struggled to find his groove and was tossed from a joint-practice with the Carolina Panthers for fighting. These comments likely aren't going to make Bill Belichick happy, even if he is just praising O'Brien.
Bourne has to be locked in, or else he might not have a spot on this roster come Week 1. Given his connection with Jones, it seems like he's a guy this wide receiver corps needs. If he's still hung up on the past, that's likely not going to translate to a great season for him, and will hurt New England at a spot on their depth chart where they are already fairly weak.
The good news is that Bourne is participating in OTAs, and has reportedly shown up in much better shape than he was last year. But the Patriots need to move on from 2022 if they want to be successful in 2023. Continuing to beat up on Patricia isn't going to lead to more wins, and Bourne is going to have to move on from his down year last season if he wants to help this team out in 2023.
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