WIDE RECEIVER KENDRICK BOURNE
Kendrick, obviously not the result you guys wanted, but take us through that last drive for you guys where you tied the game and just your thoughts on the Drake touchdown and the entire NFL kind of had a "wow" moment when we all watched it.
Yeah, long, sustained drives, tough drives. I think that's how we play, so I respect the guys and how we went out there and fought. Drake (Maye) making that impressive, long, sustained play was just impressive. So just proud of the guys, man. Like you said, we got to finish better. That's what we want. But a good drive, encouraging drive. Shows us who's playing hard and where we need to keep growing.
KB, tough week for you last week. You were very accountable. See it got you going here today after some of the catches you were getting excited. First time I've seen that in a year. Do you feel like "I'm over the hump now"? You know, past the injury and ready to get going?
Yeah, just playing. Just playing, playing free and trying to get that feel, but just trying to do best for the team that I can, you know what I mean? Where I can be better. A lot of places I can be better. Those catches were good, but I look at things that probably go unseen that I can be a lot better. But it feels good to get going and try to help the team be the best I can.
What kind of lift does it give the whole offense, Kendrick, when you have a quarterback who can make the kind of plays that Drake (Maye) was making today?
It's huge. Drake is just phenomenal. He keeps showing it week in, week out. I'm just very proud of him. We got to keep being behind him, help blocking for him, catching the ball, running good routes, so that we can get the full potential out of him. But when you got somebody like that, it encourages you to go harder. And that's what we want as a unit, for everybody to give their best foot because clearly, he is.
What'd you learn about Drake (Maye) today, Kendrick?
Just, he's resilient. He's always shown that, but that was different. That was different. I don't know how many people he made miss, but as a wideout on that play, I can run more. It was tough. That might have been the longest play I've ever been a part of, which was impressive, but we got to just keep working for him, you know, he's looking for help. So, Drake obviously made a great play, O-Line kept playing, guys kept playing. But just personally, we got to keep running around. It was tough. It shows who we have back there, and it shows that we've got to be better for him. We got to just be better for everybody as a group.
I mean, he ran for 95 yards on the day, and it just seemed, like you said, had that scrambling ability. Tough to lose, yes, but how much does that excite you and, obviously, people back home about what this kid might have?
Yeah, we got to just build. We have to build. He gives us a lot of potential to grow. I think that's what's the greatest thing about Drake. He's doing things that you don't really see at a young age. So, I'm very excited and I want to be better for him. I think everybody understands in our offensive room that we have something in him that can make everybody better. He, like I talked about, he has the aura to him. You just know that he's going to go out there and do his thing. He's going to play. He's not scared, and that's somebody you want to follow.
What can you guys do as a receiver room, as a group? Just a couple of penalties for you guys. What do you need to do moving forward to make sure that you have everything cleaned up the way you need to?
It's just taking advantage of the opportunities. Personally, I can play a lot better and there's plays that I want back, for sure. So, watching the film, that's what I'm going to evaluate on my own, is the fade on the sideline. I'm getting washed to the sideline. These little things, I can have a better release. Drake's counting on me, you know what I'm saying? I almost put him in a position to have a pick. Those plays can't happen. I have to be better with knowing what the defender's going to do, knowing how he wants to play, switching things up. As a group, we got to understand those things. When we go to practice, watching tape, knowing what the teams are trying to do at corner, at safety, and just giving ourselves the best chance to get open for everyone.
How much do you hate to lose?
Man, it's rough, it's rough. But today, you have to just keep your head up, and that's what I've been working on personally, just keeping my head up. It's tough. But we learn a lot about ourselves. That's what losing does. It teaches us what we need to work on, where we're struggling. It's all easy when you're winning and you run off into the sunset, but when it's getting dark and we in the valley, we see who's really—all those drives were, 'We're going to see who's really fighting and who wants to quit.' I think we learned a lot about ourselves today as a group. So, we just got to self-evaluate and know who we want to be individually so we can be better as a group.
