Devin McCourty is heading into his 11th season, so there’s a couple of ways he could have reacted to the Patriots choosing a safety with their first pick in the NFL Draft.
One of those ways would be to see Kyle Dugger’s arrival as a move designed to push him out the door in the not too distant future and the other would be to impart as much knowledge to the rookie as possible in hopes of making the Patriots defense as good as possible in the near term. On the podcast he hosts with his brother Jason, McCourty said he’ll be taking door No. 2.
McCourty said he has spoken to Dugger and appreciates that the rookie is “ready to work.”
“You never compete with a guy at your position because you never go against each other,” McCourty said, via MassLive.com. “You are battling at the position, but the competition is against the receivers on your team, then eventually the preseason games, the regular season. I have always tried to develop great bonds with guys who have come in there. I think that is part of being a leader and I think that is part of who you want to be as a person. That is what I love . . . I am excited to get Kyle in there.”
Dugger is making the move from Division II Lenoir-Rhyne to the NFL, so there figure to be some stumbling blocks for him to navigate in the future. McCourty should be a good shoulder for him to lean on as he does.