As Kendrick Bourne stood in the Revolution locker room (more room in there) with a gaggle of TV cameras and reporters around him on Thursday, he was honest, forthright and blunt about what’s wrong with the Patriots right now.
As one of the few veteran leaders this team has, Bourne hasn’t been afraid to speak up about some things that he’s seen when it comes to the younger players. The team isn’t as professional as it needs to be off the field and it’s a big reason why Jerod Mayo called them soft on the field after the embarrassing loss to Jacksonville.
“There’s vets in other the rooms and we have to tell the young guys ‘this is what we’re trying to create’ a team-oriented organization,” Borune said. “The more we can focus on that, the better we’ll be, but I think we’re just distracted in other areas.
“Yeah, you could say a lack of maturity. It just takes time. You come into the league, you’ve got money, you’re trying to deal with your family and balance things out, you’re learning your new self. How to have money and a bunch of different things go into it. So, just from my experience, I’ve focused on where I wanted to be and not trying to get 10 catches…focus on being a team guy to help the team…teach guys to be that as they grow.”
Not only have we had incidents with Jabrill Peppers and Christian Barmore off the field, but the wide receiver room has been under the most scrutiny with cryptic messaging and public dissatisfaction with the offense. Not to mention possible partying and/or curfew issues. That room is comprised of guys like Pop Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Tyquan Thornton, Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker.
A group of guys that simply don’t understand what it means to be professional yet.
“I think it’s just other things on certain people’s minds…we have to keep helping young guys become who they truly want to be, they just can’t see it. The vision’s not there. It takes a village to raise a kid,” Bourne added. “As a team, that’s what we are. We’re helping the young guys grow and we just have to keep fighting to help them be where they want to be.”
Bourne also made sure that his comments in London about guys eating certain things or staying out were clarified and not specifically about Douglas.
“I know the speculation was I was pointing out Pop, and it wasn’t a shot at anyone,” he said. “It’s just…the choices we make as a team. If we want to win and we want to be great…if we want to win Super Bowls, go to the playoffs, we have to take care of our bodies. We have to train. We have to eat right, sleep. We have to do everything it takes to be great.
“There’s other teams that are doing everything. So, if we’re doing the bare minimum, then we’re going to get the result we’re getting. That’s what I’m talking about. As a team, group effort…like, coming into the building early, taking care of your body after. We just running out of here and then we come back the next day like ‘we’re sore,’ well, you didn’t do nothin’ to recover. So, it’s all the little details that come into being a pro. That’s what we’re trying to teach. All of the questions kind of correlate.
“If you want to be a true pro, if you want to have longevity in the league, all of these things correlate. So, that’s kind of what I was getting at. Pop’s a great player and I know it seemed like that, but, food poisoning…that was just something crazy that happened. But, I’m just talking to the group as a whole.”
While it sounds like the veterans are babysitting more than focusing on football, they might be. Bourne acknowledged as grown men they can’t be fully responsible for others not putting in max effort.
If this season isn’t going to become the worst in franchise history, let’s all hope the message gets through.
“I hope so, I hope so because if we want anything to change, I can’t worry about you, I can’t tell you to change, I can only worry about myself,” Bourne said. “That’s taking care of my body, feeling, good, feeling in shape so I can go run the best routes for Drake. That’s how I think about it. Not, ‘well Drake didn’t throw me a good pass.’ The third down that I dropped, I don’t say ‘Drake should’ve thrown a better pass,’ I say ‘we can be better as a whole.’
“Looking at myself instead of pointing the finger is what we need to keep doing.”