There is a lot on the line for the Patriots this upcoming season, with many players and coaches needing a major bounce-back year to secure their positions on the team in the future.
Some obvious candidates, like Mac Jones and Bill Belichick, will need to impress throughout the 2023 season. But others may not be so apparent due to the overwhelming focus on specific players' declining performances last year.
These are just five of the most prominent of those needing a rebound season.
Kendrick Bourne
2022 stats:
- 35/48 receptions
- 434 yards (12.4 avg Y/R)
- one touchdown
When Kendrick Bourne was initially signed during Bill Belichick's spending spree in 2021, there wasn't much excitement around New England because most hoped a bigger name receiver would be the one brought in.
At the time, he had spent the first four years of his NFL career with the 49ers, playing behind some of the best pass catchers in the league, like Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. So, although his contract with the Patriots wasn't insignificant, there wasn't much hype around what he was bringing to the team.
But his under-the-radar status disappeared not long after the season began when it was clear he was much better than anyone realized. Bourne became one of Mac Jones' favorite targets, ending the season just shy of tying the team's receiving yards leader in Jakobi Meyers, recording 55 receptions for 800 yards and five touchdowns.
Because he exceeded all expectations, there was a lot of anticipation for how he would perform in his second season in 2022.
Unfortunately, that remained a question left unanswered because of how bad the year went. Several factors impacted Bourne's performance, including admittedly his effort and motivation throughout the season, all culminating in casting doubt about his future in New England.
Once the team returned to Foxboro for offseason programs, Bourne had a noticeable change in attitude and is said to be in the best shape of his career. His performance matched that during training camp, and he seems to have solidified his spot on the roster for the upcoming season.
Although that may be true, he still has a lot to prove. He's looked great during practices and through the few plays he's been on the field for during preseason games, but we know that doesn't mean anything until they play a real game during the regular season.
Now that he has a much more reminiscent attitude from when he first joined the team, Bourne has ample opportunity to prove how vital he is to this developing offense. The chemistry between him and Mac Jones will be crucial to his success this year and hopefully will showcase his talent and why he was signed in the first place.
Besides needing a bounce-back season to demonstrate his worth and skill set, he's also playing on a contract year, as he becomes a free agent in 2024. Performing well this year could be a way to earn another contract in New England, adding more motivation to revert to his 2021 self.
Mac Jones
2022 stats:
- 288/442 for 65% completion
- 14 TDs - 11 INTs
- 2,997 passing yards
The most obvious name on this list is clearly Mac Jones.
After completing a standout rookie season, Jones wasn't exactly set up for success come year two. Other than having to go through an immediate dramatic change from losing Josh McDaniels as the offensive coordinator, he had to learn a new offense from a man put into the play-calling position he wasn't qualified for.
The experiment of Matt Patricia impacted the offense in totality but seemed to harm Jones' confidence and development the most. From the lack of creativity in game planning and the apparent lack of trust in the quarterback's skillset to a lack of communication with the offensive players, leading to tension in the locker room, Patricia's presence was an all-time mistake by Bill Belichick from the very beginning.
On top of all the struggles Jones was dealing with from Patricia, there was also the addition of Joe Judge as the quarterback's coach, who he reportedly butt heads with all season long. Judge had just returned to New England after a failed stint as the Giants' head coach, and despite his clear ineptitude in developing Daniel Jones, he was still put into the position to coach Jones in just his second season.
Then came his high ankle sprain in week four, weakening Jones' chances of a good season even more.
He ended the 2022 season with 288/442 completions (65%), 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 6-8 record for the games he started. He was sacked 34 times, six more than just a season before, and all of this raised questions about his future as the Patriots' quarterback.
Now that Patricia is gone and Judge has been moved away from the offense, Jones has looked like a completely different player since the start of the offseason program this spring. The return of Bill O'Brien as the offensive coordinator has already proven to be an overall positive change, especially regarding his relationship with Jones specifically.
Although all we've seen is how the quarterback has performed during training camp and limited snaps in preseason, all signs point to the 2023 season will be a bounce-back year for Jones. He appears to have all the tools in his arsenal to revert to his 2021 performance, and hopefully, he can prove his value to the team throughout the upcoming 18-week season.
Hunter Henry
2022 stats:
- 41/59 receptions
- 509 yards (12.4 avg Y/R)
- 2 touchdowns
Another name signed during the iconic 2021 free agency spree, the Patriots found the tight end they had been looking for in former Charger Hunter Henry. He was a player that Belichick had had his eye on since Henry was in college, and it just took a handful of years to finally get him to New England.
Much like Kendrick Bourne, there was limited excitement regarding Henry's arrival, primarily due to his injury history. But he put those concerns to rest when he had the best season of his career and became the go-to red zone target, scoring nine touchdowns that year.
He was exactly what the offense needed, especially since the Jonnu Smith signing didn't pan out according to plan, and there were high hopes he would build upon his performance the following season.
But just like the rest of the Patriots' offense, Henry's performance suffered in 2022 as well.
The first month of the season, he was almost an invisible piece of the team. What had been a fixture of the game plan just a year before became an afterthought for most watching. Eventually, Henry explained his slow start, citing it was due to a shoulder injury he sustained the season before and had surgery to repair during the offseason.
As the weeks went on, he looked more like the player he was in his first season as a Patriot, as he was more involved in the offense each and every week. Despite the effort to include him more in the game plans, Henry could still not be the dominant weapon he had been for Jones and ended the season with just two touchdowns.
With the upcoming season just around the corner, expectations are high for Henry and new Patriots tight end Mike Gesicki to potentially become an unstoppable duo within the evolving offense under Bill O'Brien.
They have performed well all summer, and there doesn't appear to be anything slowing Henry down, leaving little to no reason for him not to return to his 2021 performance this year.
Trent Brown
2022 stats:
- Sacks allowed: 9
- QB hits: 10
- Penalties: 9 for a loss of 60 yards
- Snap total: 1,032
One of the most consistent issues of the 2022 season was the performance of the offensive line. Although the main perpetrator is no longer on the team (Isaiah Wynn), Trent Brown was only one step behind him as one of the weakest links in the group.
Among the struggles the offense faced throughout the year, several linemen suffered injuries, creating chaos in finding who to replace them with on game day. Brown was one of the players whose versatility to play on either side became valuable, especially as others had to play out of position.
Somewhere along the way, however, it seemed like Brown had kind of checked out of the season. It was a part of his character that even former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was aware of and knew how to combat. But because of the lengthy problems the offense had with Matt Patricia, who was calling plays and coaching the line, it didn't get much better as the weeks went on.
By season's end, Brown had a team-high nine penalties totaling a loss of 60 yards. On top of that, he also allowed nine sacks and ten quarterback hits, adding to the quarterback's troubles throughout the year.
Fast forward to this offseason, and it wasn't looking good between Brown and the Patriots. The tackle missed mandatory minicamp after what was initially reported to be due to a canceled flight because of weather. But when he didn't show up for the rest of those practices, questions arose about his position on the team.
After that was apparently handled, Brown has been in attendance for all practices this summer and hasn't performed as one of the weaker players on the offensive line. The unit is still troubled, but it doesn't appear that Brown is a leading cause for that.
As we near week one with concerns surrounding the linemen overall, Brown will need a bounce-back season to show why Belichick traded for him to come back two years ago. He was a leading contributor to their Super Bowl LIII run and has demonstrated great power as a reliable tackle for the team.
With so much on the line for the Patriots in general and his career in New England, Brown will need to protect Jones better this season and get back on track with what is expected of him on the field.
Jack Jones
2022 stats:
- 30 combined tackles
- 10 receptions on 25 targets for 235 yards - 0 touchdowns
- 3 PBUs, 2 INT - 1 returned for TD
- Forced fumble and fumble recovery
Unlike other names on the list, Jack Jones doesn't necessarily need a redemption season to prove his worth to the team, as he is still just entering his second season in the NFL. But the way his rookie season ended and the troubles he faced during the offseason put his future with the Patriots more in jeopardy than it typically would be at this point in his career.
Upon his selection in the 2022 draft, there were many questions surrounding the young quarterback because of his checkered past during his college career. But what some deem "character concerns" does not detract Belichick, especially on an incredibly talented player who made a silly mistake during a night out at school.
Because of those concerns, Jones fell in the draft to the fourth round despite being a former five-star recruit out of high school. He was the second cornerback taken by Belichick that year in hopes of finding another lockdown cornerback to maintain a dominant secondary.
Unsurprisingly, Jones proved to be unproblematic and accomplished a lot early on during his rookie season, most notably a pick-six from Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field.
He performed well the entire year, looking every bit worth the risk Belichick allegedly took by drafting him. But it all came crashing down in December when he suffered an injury in the week 14 game against the Cardinals that put him on the injured reserve list.
A week later, the situation got more confusing and worse, as he was moved to the reserve/suspended list for allegedly missing required rehabilitation appointments to deal with his knee injury.
The situation created a lot of narratives about Jones as a person and player and the high possibility that he wouldn't be able to recover from whatever situation got him suspended, especially since the other player who was suspended at the same time filed a grievance against the team and was eventually released.
Fortunately for all, Belichick and Jones addressed the issue and moved on before the offseason programs began, and he's performed pretty well throughout the summer. But he then added another roadblock to his life and career when he got arrested in June and has a court date set for mid-September.
Because of the drama that has followed him this past year, Jones will undoubtedly need to prove he can be valuable to the team and stop distractions from his own life and to the team. He appears to have all the tools to be a great cornerback in the league, and for the Patriots, and with the right mindset and guidance, he can keep it that way if he stays out of trouble.