Patriots

Who Will Step Up as Patriots Leader? Devin McCourty Shares His Take

Who will step up as Patriots leader? Devin McCourty shares his take originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots will be without one of their locker room leaders when they return to action in 2023.

Longtime team captain Devin McCourty announced his retirement from the NFL earlier this month after 13 seasons in Foxboro. The former defensive back shined on the field during his Patriots tenure, but his presence was arguably even more important behind the scenes.

The good news is fellow captain Matthew Slater will return for at least one more year, so there will still be a leadership presence in the locker room. But who else will step up as a vocal leader when the team needs one?

McCourty joined our Tom E. Curran on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast and shared his answer to that question.

Patriots Talk: 1-on-1 with Devin McCourty; How much better have the Patriots become this offseason? | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

"J-Mac (Jason McCourty) told me yesterday, 'That team will be better with you gone,'" Devin McCourty said. "I think he studies the game, he watched a lot of football this year. He must see something that has told him that. But I'm excited because I think when you have somebody like myself or like Slate (Matthew Slater) who has been here for a long time, the thought is always like, 'What are they gonna do now?' But because I was in it, I remember when Vince (Wilfork) left and Jerod (Mayo) left everybody was like 'What are they gonna do now?' And it was like, 'Who's gonna step up?' And there's no writing a story like, 'This guy is going to step up.' It just naturally happens.

"Guys step into roles. And I think some of those roles are already kind of defined. I think some of those guys will do more now. We can't have a bunch of people all talking, so if myself or Slate is speaking, guys give way to that. And I think guys will look around and be like, 'It's kind of void now, I've gotta step up.' I'm excited to see that."

Smith-Schuster explains what attracted him to Patriots in FA

In addition to the leadership questions, there are uncertainties surrounding the level of talent on the roster -- specifically on offense. Curran asked McCourty whether he believes this is a Patriots offense that can be counted on to put up 24-27 points in 2023.

"Yeah, I think so. When you say that, that's not just the offense. That's a team thing," McCourty said. "If you get dominated on defense, time of possession, the team can run the ball, they're doing everything. And your offense is now, they've got to score every possession in like two minutes or they gotta have a long drive, you're going to struggle to score points. But I think the way this team is built, I think they definitely have that opportunity to go out there and score 24 points because you would hope no matter what this team will get better. We're going to have guys return, we're going to have other guys step into positions.

"You look at (Mike) Gesicki, you look at JuJu (Smith-Schuster), you look at adding guys like that. We do those things to get better. So I'm excited to see. I think the defense will return everybody. And I think we have a great group of safeties that even last year when I was here. So I don't think -- everyone was making a big deal about that, I don't think that will be a problem at all. And then everybody else is back."

You can listen to the full 1-on-1 with McCourty in the podcast episode above.

Also discussed in the episode: Are the Patriots better since the end of last season, and what's left to do this offseason? Is Lamar Jackson a realistic option? An exclusive 1-on-1 with Devin McCourty. And Brent Harris of WBAL talks the latest with Jackson.

Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube.

Copyright RSN
Contact Us