Patriots News 6/26: Kraft Makes a Promise, Players Facing Big Expectations Next Month
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Some Patriots news and notes on this Thursday:
1) Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently sat down with an interview with Adam Schefter on his latest podcast, with Kraft giving his thoughts on these last two seasons, which have obviously seen New England finish 4-13 for two consecutive years.
Kraft admitted going through this rough patch has been difficult, and probably the most trying of his tenure since he bought the team. However, he also went on to say that he’s optimistic about the direction they’re heading in under new head coach, Mike Vrabel while promising a better outcome in 2025.
“The last two years were the worst years of my 31 years of ownership,” said Kraft. “We have to change that. We have a new coach in Mike Vrabel, who is really connected with the players, who’s doing great work. We have a young quarterback, a lot of great veterans, free-agent veterans who came in, a great draft class. We’re going to have I’m going to have fun this year, I promise.”
The long-time New England Patriots owner also added that he understands the frustration fans have been feeling, especially having been one himself. His goal now is to get back to the postseason and extend their 23 playoff wins, which obviously hasn’t happened since they last won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2018 season. The club has since lost 20-13 to Vrabel’s Titans during the Wild Card round in what proved to be Tom Brady’s final game in New England, and got knocked out of the Wild Card round again two seasons later with Mac Jones under center and they haven’t come close since.
“There was only one home playoff game in 34 years. I sat in the stands, 1978,” said Kraft. “Earl Campbell ran for over 100 yards, and we lost one home playoff game. We’ve owned the team 31 years. We’ve had 27 home playoff games, and we’re privileged to win 23. I want that record to keep going.”
2) Mike Giardi and Andrew Callahan brought up an interesting point in a podcast they recorded last week right at the end of New England’s final spring seassion when it comes to Demario Douglas, and where he fits in with Vrabel and Josh McDaniels now running things.
Based on what Giardi and Callahan saw during the spring, Douglas certainly looked the part in terms of being one of the club’s top receivers. But coming off when their practices ended, Giardi wonders how Douglas is viewed internally, and what his role within the offense ultimately might be.
“I thought in particular, the last couple of sessions that we saw, his energy, he’s getting open,” said Giardi. “And I do wonder about him, big picture in terms of that slot position in particular, and even if they’re going to move them around some, that slot position in particular requires good feel. And I don’t know that he has that, and I don’t think that’s something that can be coached. In fact, I’m quite certain that the offensive coordinator doesn’t believe that can be coached. You either have it or you don’t. So I wonder about his overall fit, but I thought the last couple of days in particular, great juice, great energy.”
“I think Vrabel, again, I don’t know how Vrabel feels about him as a player, I don’t think we know that fully yet, but I think Vrabel loves the dude and loves the energy that the dude brings. And you can see that.”
Another point that was brought up by Callahan is the fact that while there has been some discussion about him compared to Julian Edelman, one aspect that’s a little different is the fact Edelman played behind guys like Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd, giving him the ability to quietly learn and develop over what turned out to be several seasons. Douglas obviously doesn’t have that luxury, making the expectations a little more difficult. In his case, the repetitions he gets now become that much more valuable as he tries to carve out a role in this new offense.
“Yeah, he’s a jitterbug with a smile on,” said Callahan. “Just always somewhere to go, bounce around. I like Pop a lot, personally and as a player. And I think the field thing is probably true. Josh would obviously know better than I would. The only way to close the gap a little bit is just an incredible amount of repetitions. You know what I mean? I think part of the feel for the ultimate player who had that was Julian Edelman. Part of that is a quarterback background. But people forget. He flashed at the end of his rookie season in 2009. Didn’t really hear a whole lot of him in 2010, and ’11, and ’12. And yes, I know he’s playing behind the [Wes] Welkers and the Brandon Lloyds and everybody else that they had there. But the point is, those were incredible amount of reps that got him to the breakout season in ’13, where the Patriots were like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re fine. Here he is.’ Pop Douglas doesn’t have that time.”
“But he does have the advantage of getting open versus main coverage. He scored two touch downs in the red zone yesterday. He had another one on Monday. And so while Antonio Gibson was the leading, I don’t want to say pass catcher, but he got the most targets yesterday at four in all the team drills, pop is right there behind him. And that consistency from Monday to Tuesday. And honestly, from most of OTAs through mini camp. I think Vrabel does like him as a player, even if we are still picking through the leftovers that remains the Patriot’s receiver’s room until Stefon Diggs gets here.”
3) Looking at some additional players facing big expectations, one key name remains Keion White, who is coming off a tough season.
White is a player who looks the part of a nasty pass-rusher and while he’s flashed at points, he’s yet to be able to put it all together over 17 games.
There were rumors of players freelancing more than they should have been and White seemed to be a name who may have fallen into that category.
He’s coming off a season where his playing time dropped off significantly over the second-half of last season, which saw him register just one sack over the final 15 games.
Chad Graff of the Athletic pointed out some interesting numbers in a recent piece on the young pass rusher. Graff writes, “In the first eight weeks of last season, White ranked 26th in the league in pressure rate (14.3) among players with more than 100 pass rush snaps, just behind Chris Jones and Khalil Mack. In the final nine weeks of the season, he ranked 93rd (9.9).”
It became painfully obvious as last year went on that White lost confidence in the coaching, and his comments thus far this offseason have essentially confirmed that. With the additions of both Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson, White also finds himself in a situation where he still needs to build confidence with Vrabel if he plans on earning a spot on this defense.
Vrabel talked highly of White during his interview earlier this offseason with Chris Long, with the one area that he wanted him to improve on being his technique.
“Excited about where Keion White and his ability to continue to work on his technique,” said Vrabel. “He’s such a talented athlete with size, that if we can continue to refine some of this technique, that it really is going to help him. You know how technical the position can be.”
White has made it clear he wants to be coached. The question now is whether or not he can finally take the next step as he heads into his third season as a pro, and it definitely makes him yet another intriguing guy to keep an eye on heading into training camp.
4) Getting back to the wideouts, while Ja’Lynn Polk has gotten a lot written about him here in this space in recent weeks, the fate of Kendrick Bourne is certainly another interesting storyline.
Bourne went from being a former undrafted player who seemed like found a good home here, to a player who ended up in the doghouse in year two and then someone who seemingly struggled to adapt in a new offense last year with Alex Van Pelt, while also working his way back from a knee injury he suffered in October of 2023.
Last year, while he flashed at various points, he didn’t look like the same guy we saw the first two seasons. He ended up catching just 28 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown, with 25 of those receptions coming from Maye. Still, oddly enough he actually finished with the third-most receiving yards among that receiver room with Maye under center last season, with the rookie completing 25-of-32 (78%) for for 287 yards and connecting with Bourne for his lone touchdown.
Bourne was someone the club reportedly explored trade offers for, but the fact he’s still part of the group ahead of training camp definitely sets up an interesting situation. He heads into camp in a do-or-die scenario as he battles against the bottom of the depth chart to try and re-establish himself.
His attitude and work ethic are two areas where people have certainly given him praise. But for a team where Vrabel has raised the bar with expectations that are demanding excellence, time might be running out for him here in New England.
The fact there are so many questions at the bottom of that depth chart is likely the reason he’s even still here. For a group that needs to be more explosive this season, Bourne needs to find a way to help them get there. Otherwise, he may instead find himself looking for a new home by the time the dust settles a couple of months from now.
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but Mayo said he “had to talk with Bourne” last year as well. This was 2-3 games after Bourne got back on the field. Bourne’s play was insufficent both mentally (penaltys), and physically (drops etc). Bourne picked up his play after that Mayo discussion a bit, and also after the BB doghouse stint. Then got hurt. I see some on NBC Boston (they love Bourne), keeping Bourne on the 53. However, I don’t see it as any form of lock. He’s not been consistent or dependable, and repeated the issues. He does know McDaniels old… Read more »