At this time last year, Stephon Gilmore was the new guy in the Patriots cornerback group and it took some time before he settled into his role with his new team.
Gilmore eventually found his footing after a heavily scrutinized start to the year and scrutiny at cornerback switched to Malcolm Butler‘s Super Bowl benching. That benching left Gilmore as the top cornerback on defense, which is a position he’s set to get more experience with this year now that Butler is in Tennessee.
It would be a new role, but the change comes with Gilmore feeling more at home in New England than he did last year.
“Yeah, any time you go through something a second time, it’s always better,” Gilmore said, via the Boston Herald. “But, at the end of the day, you still have to go out there and do your job and compete at a high level every year. That’s what it’s about. Obviously, I feel more comfortable being around the guys, being around my teammates. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Patriots traded for Jason McCourty and drafted two corners to go with Gilmore, Jonathan Jones and Eric Rowe. The numbers likely will lead to some shuffling to figure out the best mix and it’s never easy to predict how the Patriots may choose to align their secondary, but it seems likely that Gilmore will be in the center of whatever they do.