Getty Image / Winslow Townson
The 2022 NFL season was a tough one for the New England Patriots’ offense.
Their lack of an offensive coordinator dragged the whole roster down on that side of the ball.
Now it appears that the issues may have led to one Patriots player not quite giving the team their all throughout the season.
Pats receiver Kendrick Bourne told the team’s website today that he didn’t give the team his best effort last year.
Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne likes what he's seen from the team's offense this spring and hopes it will be a springboard for a more productive 2023.
via @MikeDussault19https://t.co/SRC1kqFYxV pic.twitter.com/GuVTOKke7c
— Patriots.com (@PATRIOTSdotCOM) June 9, 2023
“I didn’t give the team my best effort,” Bourne said. “Personally we as players have to be our best so we can give the team the opportunity to win and I feel like I didn’t do that. So I’ve been grinding, trying to get bigger, weighing more, just being a more solid receiver and being able to do more. I don’t really go off stats, I go off how I feel, how I look and I just wasn’t in a good place, now I just want to avoid that. So it was a good learning process, it was good that it happened to me, and it’s always good to learn from hard times, struggling times.”
The effort issue definitely showed in Bourne’s numbers last season.
After making 55 catches for 800 yards and 5 TDs in his first year with the Pats, Bourne saw those numbers drop to 35 catches for 434 yards and just one touchdown. That decline came despite not having much more target competition.
With Juju Smith-Schuster, Mike Gesicki, and Kayshon Boutte joining the roster this offseason and Tyquan Thornton heading into year 2, Bourne will need to be at his best to continue to have a meaningful role in this offense.
Maybe the new offensive staff for the New England Patriots can bring the best out of Bourne.