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.