Devin McCourty: Jarrett Stidham Eager to Learn

New England safety Devin McCourty says that the Patriots quarterback room is ‘itching’ in the wake of Tom Brady’s departure. 

When Brady joined Tampa Bay after 20 years in Boston, it unquestionably shook the NFL landscape as we know it.

The league’s only dynastic team, built on the twin pillars of Brady and Belichick, had lost one of it’s pillars.

Despite this, 10-year Patriot Devin McCourty said that Tom Brady’s departure wasn’t the end of the world. 

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“I honestly didn’t think twice about Tom Brady’s free agency, because I was a free agent,” Devin McCourty told SiriusXM NFL Radio. 

“That was my main concern, where my family would end up. Would we be back in New England? Then when I signed my deal and I was back, you kind of think of all the guys. Tom, the Kyle Van Noys, the Jamie Collins’. All of those guys you had relationships with, Mathew Slater. That you kinda know, man, this could be it. That coulda been the last game I played with these guys. When he made a decision, to me it wasn’t like the end of the world.

“He’s a free agent and when free agency hits, there’s always a chance a guy could go to another team,” McCourty said. 

“I’m happy for him. He played 20 years for one organization. The knowledge he’s passed down. How open he has always been with guys learning from him, asking him questions. Always so open. Great teammate. You become a free agent, that’s what our league is about. That’s what players before us have fought for. Be a free agent and choose. I was happy for him if he did what makes him happy.”

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Patriots coach Bill Belichick recently admitted that the team’s plan to draft a quarterback didn’t work out this year. As a result, it will likely be second-year Jarrett Stidham who takes over from Brady.

“I think he’s a young guy who’s eager to learn. That quarterback position is always a hard position,” McCourty said. 

“Right away, he worked extremely hard.

“I’m exciting for that quarterback room. I think they’re itching. You get an opportunity to go out there and compete, that’s what we all want. I think for us as players at other positions, we need to focus on what we have to do. Not fall into the trap of the media, like everybody worried about the quarterback room. We just control what we can control and the rest will take care of itself.”