Kendrick Bourne motivated by Super Bowl loss, grinding to be ready for increased workload with 49ers

Kendrick Bourne started his video blog and released the first episode on Tuesday, a day after promoting his brand new rap single, "Cash Cow." It followed the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver earlier this offseason as he was training with linebacker Kwon Alexander in Oregon.

Bourne spoke with a local reporter for KOIN6 in Portland after one on-field workout and was asked what he hopes to improve this offseason. The fourth-year receiver, who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and signed a one-year tender in April, said he looks forward to an increased workload in 2020.

Bourne's focus this offseason is readying his body to endure more snaps as the 49ers work to make another Super Bowl run. The receiver has already made the bold prediction that San Francisco will once again reach the big game and win it this time.

"I want to be faster, stronger, body control, core; I definitely needed more core, and I can feel that immediately," Bourne told the reporter. "Doing these drills today, I've never been able to go this long trying to do a drill over and over, get it right.

"And my mindset has been changing. After that loss (in Super Bowl LIV), and trying to be the person I want to be, it takes a lot of this work. ... I'm going to be ready to go. I can feel it."

The evolved mindset was something that Bourne learned from Emmanuel Sanders this past season. The veteran showed Bourne how to push himself further even after it feels like he hits a wall.

"The biggest thing with Emmanuel for me was just his conditioning and how long he can stay in the game," Bourne told NBC Sports Bay Area in March. "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."

Bourne is training so hard because he wants to be ready to push through during a game, should he feel like he has reached his limit.

"That's where I've been focusing this offseason—trying to get my body to where I hit that wall, but I've still got two more plays left in me," Bourne continued. "You might be in two-minute, and that two-minute drill is the toughest time. You might have to go six plays in a row."

That is something that Sanders had no problem doing this past season, and that left Bourne impressed. Keep in mind that Sanders is over eight years older than Bourne.

"His mindset was just amazing," Bourne added, "just going through injuries and everything like that, all that kind of stuff. Just learning from that."

Bourne, who was signed in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Washington, hauled in 30 receptions for 358 yards with a career-high five touchdowns through 16 games in 2019. Twenty-three of those 30 catches resulted in either a first down or a score.

Bourne also caught six passes for 88 yards and a score in the playoffs, including two catches for 42 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. Five of those six catches went for either a first down or a touchdown.

As for his offseason training, Bourne sounded satisfied with his progress. Of course, it's safe to assume that all of this was before the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country, forcing many to shelter in place.

"I'm feeling good. I'm feeling healthy," Bourne told the KOIN6 reporter in his video. "I'm feeling ready to play. I've never worked this hard before in the offseason. Having a loss like that motivated me a lot."