Troy Brown agrees with Kendrick Bourne’s recent criticism of the Patriots offense

Dec 5, 2022 - 9:00 PM

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Kendrick Bourne raised some eyebrows following the New England Patriots’ 24-10 defeat to the Buffalo Bills last Thursday. Speaking with reporters in the locker room after the game, the wide receiver rather candidly made his feelings about the unit’s struggles known.

Bourne touched on a variety of issues, including the Patriots’ inability to push the ball down the field, to the tempo with which the unit was operating agains Buffalo, to the schemes on third down. Hearing a member of the usually tight-lipped team speak this openly about its problems was certainly noteworthy.

Did Bourne cross a line, though? Not according to his position coach. Talking to the media on Monday, Troy Brown basically echoed the wide receiver’s remarks.

“We need to do it all better. We need to scheme up better, we need to practice better, we need to play better. We need to do a whole lot of things better,” Brown said. “Not just one thing you can throw out there and say we need to do better. We just have to execute better and that comes in every department in the building right now.”

The Patriots offense had another disappointing outing in Week 13 versus Buffalo. The unit went three-and-out on four of its first five possessions — allowing the Bills to take a 17-7 lead into the half and never looking back — and did not reach the opponent red zone until the late fourth period.

It eventually finished with just one touchdown in the 14-point loss to its division rivals. The outing was not the first of its kind for the New England offense, though; it also struggled in previous games and is now ranked below average in almost every major statistical category.

No drastic changes will be made to help to improve the unit. Instead, as Brown pointed out, its members both on the field and on the sidelines need to find a way to get better results.

“Playing, coaching, whatever it is — quarterbacking, receiving, running-back blocking, whatever it is. We all have to have some accountability for it and be better at it, and just keep plugging along at it,” he said.

The Patriots will get their next change to plug along following their mini-bye. They will take on the Arizona Cardinals and their 32nd-ranked scoring defense in Week 14.