Did Patriot Needle Bill Belichick While Hyping Up New Regime?

The Patriots are in line for many organizational tweaks with Bill Belichick no longer in the picture, including a slightly higher tolerance level.

Kendrick Bourne is excited for that change, and he’s probably not alone.

Bourne, who re-signed with New England last week, expressed excitement for the Patriots’ new regime on a recent episode of the “Pats Interference Football Podcast.” Eliot Wolf received a share of the praise from the veteran wide receiver, who might have taken a dig at Belichick when he spoke about New England’s de facto general manager.

“He’s just, treating everybody fairly, giving everybody an opportunity, bringing guys in not just — you drop a pass, you don’t get an opportunity next week,” Bourne said, as transcribed by MassLive.

Harsh reactions to mistakes — particularly made by young/inexperienced players — were a staple of the Belichick era. It’s obviously important to hold the team to a high standard, but Bourne sees the downsides of severely punishing a player for a miscue.

“It’s just inevitable,” Bourne said. “He’s trying to be an explosive player like he is, be himself. But then when you don’t put us back in the game … that kills the confidence. I think that’s going to be the difference. It’s like, ‘No, bro, you just made a mistake, that can can happen to anyone.’ That mindset is just going to help a player take off.”

Bourne’s remarks weren’t wishful thinking either. Roughly a month after Belichick’s exit, Wolf himself stressed the Patriots will operate with “less of a hard-ass vibe” moving forward.

Belichick’s approach worked for quite a while and helped New England hang six Super Bowl banners. But there’s more than one way to win in the NFL, and it was time for a change at One Patriot Place.