FOXBORO — The joy on Kendrick Bourne’s face was apparent after Friday’s OTA practice at Gillette Stadium. He was smiling. The Patriots wide receiver was soaking in the fresh air.
The 2022 season was an obvious disaster, a failure for a Patriots offense led by Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. Desperate change was needed. They got it with the return of Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator.
The early reviews from OTAs have been universally positive. Just take it from Bourne, who was at the center of the Patriots frustrations last season.
“He’s familiar with what he’s doing, so it feels good,” Bourne said. “You can tell he knows what he’s doing in all areas of the offense. …
“He’s doing well. He knows how to engage with all of us, I feel like. He knows our strengths right now and he knows where to put us, so it’s been good. … You can tell he knows what he’s doing.”
When it was noted to Bourne that what he was saying would indicate that last year was the exact opposite feeling for the Patriots’ offense under Patricia and Judge, Bourne doubled down.
“It just feels good. Change is good,” Bourne said. “It’s something we needed, I feel like, and it’s good. It feels good so far, so if that’s what it’s going to be, then it’s better so far. …
“New year, new me, new us, new everything,” Bourne continued. “That’s what we’re focused on, and that’s always the goal every year is to move forward and be better.”
Last season’s disaster was deep-rooted, and went beyond the numbers. Mac Jones regressed in his second season. The unit was predictable. It looked lost every week. There was dysfunction between the offense and the coaching staff. But that seems to be well in the past now.
It’s only June, with minicamp next week and training camp more than a month away. There is certainly plenty of work to do as the players learn the system, one Hunter Henry acknowledged is similar to the one Josh McDaniels deployed two years ago. But the first practices with O’Brien have seemingly been as smooth as possible. The unit looks functional again, with a purpose that didn’t exist last year.
“Just being fast, man. Just being consistent and not being one-dimensional, so just being very versatile in everything we do,” Bourne said. “Intermediate, long, short, just doing everything, in the backfields it’s been going well, so I think just being very consistent. …
“It feels good, feels fast,” Bourne went on. “Just excited, man. Everyone’s on the same page. You can feel the growth already, so that’s the most exciting part. I feel like we’ve been knowing exactly what we’re doing and who we are, figuring out who we are.”
Bourne didn’t mince words about his own personal performance last season: “Just a bad year,” the wide receiver said Friday.
After a promising first season in New England in 2021, Bourne took a step back in 2022, as did the entire offense. He seemed to fall out of favor with the coaching staff. But he didn’t make excuses. It went beyond the numbers.
Bourne was proactive in trying to improve himself. He got bigger and stronger. When asked about that Friday, he flexed for the cameras.
“Just being in shape in ways that I’ve never been before, so just taking care of my body, eating well, doing everything that I need to do, just to be prepared to play better,” Bourne said. “Talking about last year, I was very disappointed in myself in my play and everything and how the year went, so just giving myself the best opportunity to do the best I can for the team.”
Bourne said he personally didn’t give his best effort for the Patriots last season, and he’s working hard to correct that this year.
“I want to get better every year, I feel like I didn’t get better,” Bourne said. “I don’t really go off stats, I just go off how I feel and how I look, and I just wasn’t in a good place, so now I just want to avoid that. So it was a good learning process. It’s good it happened to me, and it’s always good to learn from hard times, struggling times, so that’s what I learned.”