New England Patriots: Everything is normal in New England
By Sam Minton
Today was the first day of training camp for the New England Patriots and Devin McCourty reminded everyone that not a lot has changed in New England.
There is one constant in New England. No, I am not talking about Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. The one thing that always seems to happen as we move from one season to the next is change. Every New England Patriots season seems different from the last.
There are new storylines, new players and sometimes new coaches. This offseason the Patriots are missing a lot. Matt Patricia is now a head coach. Danny Amendola is a Dolphin. Brandin Cooks was sent to LA, and Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis are now teammates in Tennessee.
Even with all these players leaving Devin McCourty still believes it is business as usual in Foxboro.
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"Normal. I think every year it’s kind of like that. Whether it was Vince Wilfork or Jerod Mayo, it always feels like it’s something else. Last year, it was Logan [Ryan] not being here and getting used to that. So, it’s just a part of the year, and I think that’s why this time is always very exciting and nerve-racking because it’s everything. It’s new guys, it’s old guys, it’s coming together to start to build the 2018 team, which like we always talk about, is going to be different than ’17, ’16. It always is. So, with that, we have guys that have been here for a while that are not here, and we can’t think about that. We’ve just got to get ready to go with who’s here."
Same old Patriots
This isn’t the first time the Patriots have lost some great players. The Patriots defense survived without Wilfork and Mayo. The Patriots offense will survive without Amendola, Lewis, and Cooks.
The Patriots still have the backbone of the team. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will be leading the offense, while McCourty and Dont’a Hightower lead the defense.
I’m expecting big things from the defense this year. Even though losing Butler was a big loss, I expect the pass rush to be much better.
Hightower is returning, and the Patriots picked up Adrian Clayborn who will cause problems on the edge. The Patriots may not have to rely solely on their offense to win games.
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There is no reason to fret Patriots fans. Everything will be alright. The Patriots will still be the top team in the AFC and will have a cakewalk to the Super Bowl. Fans will forget about the disappointing loss last February if Belichick and Brady can bring home their 6th championship this season.