Safety Devin McCourty is heading into his 11th season with the Patriots, so he spent a lot of time in the same locker room as Tom Brady since entering the NFL.
Brady won’t be in the locker room whenever McCourty and the rest of the Patriots are back at the team’s facility. McCourty told Chris Carlin of ESPN Radio 98.7 that being in the locker room will be the moment when he fully realizes that Brady and other former teammates have moved on to new teams this offseason.
While that moment remains off in an indefinite future, McCourty said the team’s remote offseason program has helped get the ball rolling on life without the six-time Super Bowl champ.
“One of the biggest things we have to do as a team, and as players individually, is move on, lock in, and get focused on life without Tom,” McCourty said. “Not just to harp on it, and talk about it, but to actually move on and try to prepare. I think the virtual meetings have been good for us to start that process.”
The process of adjusting to life without Brady won’t be done until the team is actually on the field with a new quarterback leading the way, but it sounds like the ball is rolling as much as possible thus far.