Hunter Renfrow arrived as a Pro Bowler in 2021.
He departed from 2022 feeling he failed his teammates and hoping his season was an aberration he could leave behind.
"I feel like I let a lot of my teammates down last year," Renfrow told reporters earlier this week. "That's something that left a bad taste in my mouth and something that I want to get over and prove to them -- through the spring and also going into the season -- that I'm a guy that they can count on."
Renfrow was a diamond in the rough found in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, producing back-to-back 600-yard receiving seasons to start his career before truly breaking out in 2021. He earned his aforementioned Pro Bowl selection after tallying 103 receptions, 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns.
Then came last season and a tumble from grace. Renfrow posted career lows across the board: one start, 10 games, 36 catches and 330 yards.
Following a disastrous showing for Renfrow and the Raiders as they went 6-11, the 27-year-old's name has been bandied about in trade rumors and there's been calls for concern as to if he can fit into head coach Josh McDaniels' offense.
To the trade talk, Renfrow said he's simply going to "just have fun every day and control what I can control."
To the concerns about acclimating to McDaniel's offense, he's "practicing hard to try to."
By Renfrow's account, he's gone about changing his mindset more than anything else.
That much was evident when asked if he had tried anything new in his offseason workout regimen.
"I'm hoping last year was a fluke," said Renfrow, who will look to rebound with a new quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo after the Raiders released Derek Carr. "You always do things, core-wise and strength-and-training-wise to prepare yourself. And I'd like to think I've been playing at a decent level at Clemson for four or five years, and then four or five years here. So, I didn't want to get all scared all of a sudden and think I had to do all this and change who I am. And so, just get back to the basics."
Ahead of his second season with McDaniels and fifth in the NFL, Renfrow's comfort level has risen.
"Just from the spring and the verbiage and going through these first few days of camp, these first few installs, everything is so much more smooth, so much more familiar," he said. "And the guys are familiar, the coaching staff's familiar -- how they coach. And so, I feel like I'm in a lot better place than I was this time last year."
Indeed, Renfrow's aiming to rediscover his Pro Bowl form in 2023 and move past what's he's hoping was a "fluke" of a season a year ago.
