The New England Patriots look nothing like the Patriots of Bill Belichick's heyday, and wide receiver Kendrick Bourne knows it. Bourne aired his frustrations after the Patriots' 34-0 shutout loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 5, per NESN's Zack Cox (via The Spun's Andrew Gould).

“I keep saying it: I feel like we have to work harder. More effort. We need more effort. And I'm not speaking of anybody. It just feels like we need to want it more. That's just the energy out there. We need more energy,” Kendrick Bourne said after the Patriots got throttled for the second straight week.

“It's all about hard work. I feel like we've got to work harder in practice. We've got to try harder and just do better individually, personally, and as a group,” Bourne continued.

“I feel like the plays were there. We've just got to make them. Sometimes we've got to make harder catches or whatever it may be, but I feel like the plays were there. A lot of them showed themselves. We've just go to finish,” Kendrick Bourne concluded.

The Dallas Cowboys and Saints overwhelmed the Patriots in consecutive weeks. They outscored New England by a combined 72-3 margin in Weeks 4 and 5. Clearly, Kendrick Bourne and Co. have issues on offense – they just could not move the sticks in the past two weeks. The Patriots have been in a funk since beating the New York Jets 15-10 in Week 3.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick benched starting quarterback Mac Jones in the second half for the second straight week. Will Bailey Zappe take over as starter when the Patriots take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6?

Either way, the Patriots must work harder just like Kendrick Bourne said.