Patriots secondary has big void to fill after losing Devin McCourty
During the offseason, the New England Patriots lost a key part of their team. After 13 seasons in the league and with the Patriots, Devin McCourty retired, with the longtime captain hanging up his cleats after three Super Bowl championships. This leaves a major void that needs to be filled. “You can’t just replace a […]
During the offseason, the New England Patriots lost a key part of their team.
After 13 seasons in the league and with the Patriots, Devin McCourty retired, with the longtime captain hanging up his cleats after three Super Bowl championships.
This leaves a major void that needs to be filled.
“You can’t just replace a guy like Devin,” Kyle Dugger said to the Boston Globe's Christopher Price. “We’re just going to have to make sure we’re communicating and talking. Communication will be important and help tremendously.”
Across his career, McCourty has 914 total tackles, three sacks, and 35 interceptions.
Having played with McCourty for three seasons since being drafted by the Patriots in 2020, Dugger has learned a lot about the safety position from one of the best to do it.
“I definitely have to be better and bring some of those younger guys along and do my job as a leader,” Dugger said. “Especially in the secondary, just bringing guys along and filling in spots maybe where they don’t understand things. Just doing what I can to help those guys understand everything better.”
Across his three seasons, Dugger has recored a total of 234 tackles, with one sack and seven interceptions. While he still has a long way to go to catch McCourty, the young safety is showing promise and is being looked at to help replace the gap in leadership.
Fellow safety Adrian Phillips echoed Dugger's sentiments.
“You’ll never replace a guy like that specifically, just because he’s like one in a million,” Phillips said. “You don’t really come by them that often. But collectively as a group, you know you have the pieces to get it done and you can change up some stuff and make it confusing for the offenses.”
While the Patriots have many challenges ahead, one of the main ones will be to see how the secondary does without McCourty helping lead the pack.
“This is like the ultimate test for our secondary to be able to grow, because he’s always been that backbone for so long,” Phillips said.
Featured Image via Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
