GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Kendrick Bourne “definitely” believes in moral victories.
Though the Patriots sit 1-3, they pushed a heavily-favored Packers team to the wire at Lambeau Field, despite losing backup quarterback Brian Hoyer on the second drive of the game. Green Bay still needed 70 minutes of football to knock off New England, and four games into the season, Bourne believes the Patriots are learning what they have in their locker room.
“You want to win every game, but sometimes it’s good to lose,” Bourne said at his stall in the visitor’s locker room. “You get to learn where you need to improve. You get to learn a lot about your team. Who’s like what. It’s all good when you’re winning every game, but when you go through adversity — and it’s still early.
“We’re playing quarters. This is the end of the first quarter of the season. So I think we just learned a lot about ourselves. Everybody just finding that role, man, and trying to excel in that role. So it’s all about growing.”
With third-stringer Bailey Zappe at quarterback, the Patriots kept the ball on the ground quite a bit, but Bourne still caught two passes for 23 yards in the 27-24 loss, and ran for a first down, too. His snap count was as high as it’s been all season.
The wide receiver said Bill Belichick’s message to the team after the overtime loss was straightforward.
“Just telling us keep our heads up. We fought well. We competed well,” Bourne said. “I think that’s a moral victory. We didn’t just get blown out. We didn’t just give up. We fought to the end. That’s a good team over there.”
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