Patriots veteran's team-first mentality shines despite diminished role in Sunday's win over Bears
Kendrick Bourne is a key piece of the New England Patriots roster, regardless if he's on the field or not. That's because he brings energy, enthusiasm, positivity, and encouragement at every moment, regardless of what's happening. And for a 3-7 team, that is certainly needed. So on Sunday, while he didn't get any snaps during […]
Kendrick Bourne is a key piece of the New England Patriots roster, regardless if he's on the field or not.
That's because he brings energy, enthusiasm, positivity, and encouragement at every moment, regardless of what's happening. And for a 3-7 team, that is certainly needed.
So on Sunday, while he didn't get any snaps during the game, his team-first mentality was on full display at every moment.
After the game, the Patriots posted a video on social media showing numerous players reacting to the big win over the Chicago Bears while walking off the field. And the first player in the video was Kendrick Bourne.
"Patriots win! Let's go," he shouted with a big smile on his face.
If you didn't know any better, you would have thought he was out there all game. But instead, he was on the sidelines cheering on his team the entire time.
So what was that?
While Bourne was active, the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan reported that Bourne was told on Saturday that he might not play in their Week 10 game because the staff is prioritizing playing time for young players.
Prior to this game, Bourne played 78% of the team's offensive snaps during the last two games.
Jerod Mayo explained the decision after the game.
"There was a lot that went into that. You know, anytime we put the active roster together, you said it, we thought that that was the best thing to do for us to give us the best chance to win," he told reporters. "All those guys bring a certain skill set to the game. We just didn't know who was going to play more. It just played out that way.
However, he saw what we all saw during the game, and that was Bourne's energy and engagement throughout.
"But I will say this; even though Bourne didn't play today, he was the first one smiling when I walked in the locker room, and I've always appreciated that, just his energy and excitement," Mayo added. "Same thing with (WR) K.J. (Osborn) and the rest of those guys. Sometimes even when they're inactive, just the excitement for their teammates.
The Patriots currently have seven wide receivers on the roster, which could be a challenge for some teams. But Mayo sees it as a strength.
"We talk about abundance versus scarcity and having that mindset of abundance where we can all eat versus scarcity," he explained. "If you have that scarcity mindset, you don't want your teammate to do well because there's only a certain amount of the pie. I will say the mindset of this team is if we go out there, there are enough plays to be made for all of us, we've just got to go out there and execute."
