Fans were excited to see that the San Francisco 49ers placed a second-round tender on Kendrick Bourne, who will likely remain with the Bay Area squad. The high-energy receiver brings a fun dynamic to his fellow wideouts, and he proved to be a reliable target for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in clutch situations.
Observing social distancing because of COVID-19, Bourne spoke with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area via a video interview.
"Just thrilled, man, and thankful for the Niners still believing in me after [three] years now," Bourne said of the second-round tender. "Even believing in me for year four, and just ready to attack it. It sucks that our OTAs are postponed. I was really excited to get back and get to work, be around the guys again.
"Just a little more time to work now, and get a little more polished before OTAs, so I guess that's cool too."
Bourne says he is more motivated this offseason, having experienced the incredible run his team went on during its 2019 campaign. He is grateful to now have playoff experience and believes that will help him and his teammates moving forward.
"(Head coach) Kyle (Shanahan), he knows how to get there," Bourne told Maiocco. "And the people that he brings in to make the route getting there easier ... Kyle was in there twice, so even how he thinks, he wants to win. His mindset gets more motivated when you lose."
That playoff experience, coupled with the loss in Super Bowl LIV, has created even more motivation for Bourne, who views this offseason differently than previous ones.
"There's just more motivation going through a loss like that for me because how I feel working out now in the offseason, just so motivated," he continued. "I want to get up and go to the field more than I did. ... Now the vision is so clear for the team. We went through the rebuilding. We did all the steps it took. And we got into the highest stage of the game."
Now, the 49ers will try to go even further and win a Super Bowl. They will try to do it without one of their key components on offense, though.
Bourne was among the players who campaigned for the 49ers to re-sign veteran receiver Emmanuel Sanders, whom the team traded for in October. That didn't happen. Sanders will continue his career with the New Orleans Saints, who coincidentally host San Francisco again in 2020.
Despite playing just 13 games — including the postseason — with the 49ers, Sanders made an impact on the young receivers.
"The biggest thing with Emmanuel for me was just his conditioning and how long he can stay in the game," Bourne explained. "It was really impressive to me because I know if I'm in for like four plays, I'll be like huffing and puffing a little bit."
The young receiver says he learned how to push himself further even when he feels like he has hit a wall.
"His mindset was just amazing, just going through injuries and everything like that, all that kind of stuff," Bourne continued. "Just learning from that. Route running. I thought his route running was top of the league. Just learning all those little things, taking it from him."
You can watch the entire interview with Bourne below.
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