The New England Patriots went through a massive turnaround just one season after they replaced Jerod Mayo with Mike Vrabel. After struggling the previous season, Vrabel came in and, in one season, completely changed the way the Patriots operated. That ended up with the Patriots jumping from 4-13 to 14-3 and earning a Super Bowl berth. It was an improbable turnaround, but it proved how different Vrabel was from Mayo.
Former Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne discussed on his YouTube channel what he saw as the difference between Vrabel and Mayo. He said that going through the offseason workouts, you could tell that Vrabel had a structure to everything, while with Mayo, it was easy to tell he was not ready.
Mayo said, “I knew where the team was going after experiencing OTAs with Vrabes, experiencing camp with Vrabes… You could tell. From going from [Jerod] Mayo and what we did in camp, no knock to Mayo, he just wasn’t ready, and then going to Vrabes, it was like, bro, you could tell the structure was just different, how we studied, how we met, and different things. That’s what ultimately made me bummed about it… I knew where these guys were going… I was absolutely sad.”
Bourne also mentioned that he wishes he played on the team and gotten to experience the Super Bowl, but he said that New England will always hold a special place in his heart.
The New England Patriots are parting ways with Kendrick Bourne after the veteran wide receiver requested to be released in August.
According to the Boston Herald, the Patriots explored trading Bourne this summer. They discussed a potential deal with the Minnesota Vikings, but failed to finalize a trade before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET roster cutdown deadline.
He signed a one-year, $1.765 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. It represented a return to where he began his career. It was also a bounce-back season for him as well. He appeared in 16 games, starting eight. He was able to record 37 catches for 551 yards on the year.
