New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has been picked by many experts around the league to be a breakout player in 2022. Looking at Bourne's 2021 stats, it's easy to see why that could be the case.

In his first season with the Patriots, Bourne posted career highs across the board. He had 55 receptions for 800 yards and five touchdowns while playing the entire season with a rookie quarterback.

The start to training camp in his sixth season hasn't been the best for Bourne, though. Through the first 12 practices, Bourne only has two of practices in which he's recorded multiple receptions during 11-on-11s and has a few practices in which he hasn't recorded a reception during such sessions.

Monday was another one of those cases. Kendrick Bourne only had one target, which came closer to the end of practice and was a short pass over the middle that corner Jalen Mills made a play on to force the incompletion.

While a full offseason with Mac Jones in New England should benefit Bourne, the departure of former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels could complicate his role with the Patriots. Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia, and Joe Judge appear to be running the offense in some fashion, and even though he's had a quiet camp so far, Bourne believes they're doing a good job utilizing the players.

“I think everybody's fitting in their roles. How they're using us, it's just dope. They understand us well,” Bourne said. “For me, I'm just playing my role – just like every other receiver. Just making the plays that we get called on. It's just kind of like last year, too. When your number's called just make the play.

“We've all got our strong traits and we've all got our weak traits. So, just work on your weak [traits] and grow on your strong [traits]. That's the best thing about this offense.”

Bourne iterated again in a follow-up question that he approves of the offensive coaching so far and that the players on offense know their strengths.

“They do a great job,” Bourne added. “We all know what we're good at, too, so there's no crying or whining.”

One of the noticeable things about the new Patriots offense is that they installed some zone blocking and running schemes, drawing comparisons to the offense Kyle Shanahan runs in San Francisco –which was Bourne's first NFL home.

Bourne downplayed the similarities between the two concepts, though.

“Nah, I just say football's football,” Bourne said when asked if the Patriots' new offense was similar to the offense he played in with the 49ers. “Just making plays [when your number's called]. It's all the same concept. It's just different terms.”

In addition to having a career year, Bourne was used in multiple ways in his first season with the Patriots. He had 12 carries for 125 yards, with seven of those carries resulting in first downs. He actually threw a pass too, connecting with Nelson Agholor for a 25-yard touchdown in the Patriots' Week 7 win over the Jets.

Bourne didn't say if we should expect him to be used in more creative ways this season, but he's ready to do whatever when his number's called.

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“Definitely just playing my role. I'm not trying to do too much or do too little. Whatever they ask of me, I'll go do it,” Bourne said. “If they need me on the bench, I'll be on the bench. Wherever I need to be – everybody has their role. Once you can play in your role, that helps the team without crying or being mad about anything. Just wait for that chance and take advantage of it.”

If he does get carries this season, Bourne said that one area he focused to improve on was creating more yards with the ball in his hands.

“Just finishing with the ball better,” Bourne said. “I feel like I could've finished the runs upfield rather than falling to the side or getting tackled in a certain way. So, just finishing harder forward with the football.”

As a receiver, Kendrick Bourne hasn't had much trouble doing that. He was 32nd in yards after catch per reception (7.0) last season. But, as mentioned earlier, Bourne hasn't shown much of his ability as a receiver so far in camp. We'll see if that changes though with a pair of joint practices and a preseason game coming up against the Panthers.