Patriots send Kendrick Bourne message amid poor camp showing

By Henry McKenna
FOX Sports AFC East Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne had one of his most productive days of training camp on Wednesday in a joint practice against the Carolina Panthers. But it was not a resurgence for the wideout, who has been extremely quiet throughout the first few weeks of camp.

Rather than working with quarterback Mac Jones and other projected starters, Bourne practiced with backup QBs Brian Hoyer and Bailey Zappe. Receviers Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker and Nelson Agholor ran with Jones and the top unit for most of the practice. Even rookie Tyquan Thornton appeared to get more reps with the starters than Bourne did. 

It was a strange sight for the sixth-year receiver, who was one of the team’s most promising players last season. He had 55 catches for 800 yards and five touchdowns. He was second on the team in each category despite being on the field for only 52% of the offensive snaps. 

If any Patriot seemed to present upside for the offense in 2022, Bourne was that player.

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But perhaps the following stat puts his training camp struggles into perspective: During team drills (11-on-11 and 7-on-7s) on Tuesday, Bourne had his first two-catch practice since the first day of camp. Later that day, the Patriots’ coaches ejected him for throwing punches in a scrap between New England wideout Kristian Wilkerson and Panthers cornerback Kenny Robinson. 

By Wednesday, Bourne was running with the second- and third-team offense.

“Whatever they ask of me, just go do it,” he said Monday, the day before joint practices. “If I’ve got to be on the bench, I’ll be on the bench. Whatever it needs to be. Everybody has that role, and once you can play in your role, that helps the team, without crying or being mad about anything.”

Yes, this has been a strange camp for the Patriots. Coach Bill Belichick has taken a more significant role in running the offense after the departure of OC Josh McDaniels, now the head coach in Las Vegas. McDaniels brought three of the Patriots’ offensive assistants with him. In response to the brain drain, Belichick reassigned Matt Patricia, a longtime defensive coach, to the offense and hired former Giants head coach Joe Judge as an offensive assistant. 

Those three are rebuilding New England’s offense. At its core, the offense will actually remain similar to what the team ran last year. But the Patriots are making tweaks and additions based on the Kyle Shanahan rushing attack, featuring an outside-zone running scheme, and the Sean McVay passing offense, with tight split formations and jet sweeps. 

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In theory, Shanahan’s offense should suit Bourne, who played for the 49ers before signing a $15 million, three-year deal with the Patriots before last season. But the Patriots’ offensive scheme is such a blend of concepts that it’s not purely transferable from Bourne’s time in San Francisco. The Shanahan elements are mostly represented in the rushing attack and in play-action. So the shift doesn’t favor Bourne any more than it does anyone else in New England’s receiving corps. 

Bourne had actually been looking forward to the Patriots’ schematic adjustments. During the offseason, he revealed to ESPN’s Mike Reiss that the team would be running a new system designed to help the playmakers play faster. Bourne reiterated on Monday that he thinks system is “dope,” focusing on bringing out each player’s strengths.

That begs the question as to why Bourne has yet to benefit from the team’s adjustments. At this point, he is trending the way of WR5, whereas in January, he looked like a strong candidate to earn a role as WR1. Jones and Bourne seemed to have a chance to grow together, but so far in camp, their connection has not developed after last season’s promising start.

Meanwhile, the rest of New England’s receivers group is surging. Parker, who joined the team in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, has looked like an ideal fit. 

The speedy Thornton has emerged quickly. In any other organization, it would not be a surprise to see a second-round pick make an immediate impact. But for the Patriots, who have a history of struggling to draft receivers (particularly in the high rounds), Thornton’s grasp of the offense has been especially impressive. He has also quickly minimized the skepticism surrounding his skinny frame (6-foot-2, 180 pounds), which was one of the biggest knocks on him coming out of Baylor. With excellent footspeed and truly elite top speed, Thornton is creeping his way up the team’s depth chart. 

Meyers, entering his fourth season with New England, remains the most consistent receiver on the team. The veteran Agholor, meanwhile, has enjoyed an emergent stretch, with two excellent practices against the Panthers, particularly on Wednesday when the teams focused on red zone. 

Bourne is the only one giving up ground. 

“There’s no crying or whining against what we can and can’t do,” he said Monday. “It’s just knowing your strengths and playing your strengths.”

That was the second time in a four-minute media session when Bourne suggested there’s “no crying” about his spot in the Patriots’ offense. And that was before he fell out of the first-team offense. Perhaps his depth-chart descent may end up being brief, a punishment for fighting, but he surely received a message from the Patriots on Wednesday when they demoted him.

New England’s offense needs to improve substantially from last season, when the Patriots were 14th in passing yards (4,098) and 15th in passing touchdowns (24). Belichick did not clear a path for Bourne to play a leading role in the offensive evolution. The Patriots instead added players who make his role more complicated and competitive. 

Bourne must respond or risk wasting a promising 2021 season. He needs to start looking like the receiver the Patriots loved at the end of last year — and fast.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.