Devin McCourty

There have been some notable moves so far this offseason for the New England secondary. With free agency continuing and the draft now just over a month away, the Patriots can still add to the defensive back spot. But right now — with the addition of veteran safety Adrian Wilson, the re-signing of cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Kyle Arrington and the departure of Patrick Chung — here’s a quick look at how the depth chart for the Patriots’ secondary shakes out at this point:

Outside cornerbacks
Talib: The 27-year-old, who will return for his first full season with the Patriots, projects as the No. 1 corner for New England in 2013.
Alfonzo Dennard: The Nebraska product, who played very well as a rookie last season in New England, faces something of a murky future, but if he’s available, he should go into the 2013 season as a starting corner.
Ras-I Dowling: The injury-plagued Dowling enters his third season in New England with a lot to prove. When he’s been healthy, he’s been an important part of the secondary — the problem is he hasn’t been healthy all that often. He’s played just nine games in two years.

Slot cornerbacks/special teamers
Arrington: After the acquisition of Talib, Arrington moved back inside to the slot — his more natural position — and flourished. Should start 2013 as the leader in the clubhouse for this spot once again.
Malcolm Williams: Primarily a special teamer, Williams provides depth at the defensive back position.

Safeties
Devin McCourty: The lead dog in the secondary. He admitted late last season the transition from young guy to leader took some time, but he goes into 2013 as the No. 1 free safety on the team.
Steve Gregory: Gregory started slow and had issues staying on the field early in the season, but he and McCourty played well together at the end of the season.
Adrian Wilson: A bigger safety who can contribute down in the box, one of the early position battles worth watching could be between Wilson and Gregory. While Gregory and McCourty played well together, Wilson (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) is more of a big, strong safety when it comes to overall body type than Gregory (5-foot-11, 200 pounds) and could swipe some snaps from Gregory as a result, depending on the defensive game plans.
Tavon Wilson: Wilson started strong as a rookie — four interceptions in his first 10 games — but the acquisition of Aqib Talib affected his playing time maybe more than anyone else — the trade for Talib meant the Patriots moved Devin McCourty from corner to safety, and left Wilson on the sidelines. He projects as a backup right now.
Nate Ebner: Ebner did see some significant snaps on defense at the start of the season, but made his niche as a special teamer. Currently figures as someone who can provide depth at the strong safety spot, not unlike Matthew Slater.

Patrick Chung

Defensive back Patrick Chung signed with the Eagles on Tuesday, ending a four-year career with the Patriots.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder, who will be reunited with his former college coach, Chip Kelly, had issues with injury in his time in New England, struggling to stay on the field and starting 30 out of a possible 64 regular-season games with the Patriots. His best season was 2010, when he started 13 games (a career-high) and finished with 96 tackles (72 solo), three interceptions and nine passes defensed (all career-bests).

Chung is the second member of New England’s draft class to depart — offensive lineman Donald Thomas signed with the Colts earlier in the day.

For more Patriots news, check out weei.com/patriots.

Devin McCourty has his sights set on bring stability to the Patriots secondary. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

FOXBORO — It’s arguably the most important move of the season for the Patriots.

Trading for cornerback Aqib Talib and moving Devin McCourty from corner to safety.

Since that deal at the trade deadline in early November, the Patriots defense – particularly the secondary – has looked like a new group, a group playing with a great deal of confidence.

On Thursday, McCourty shed some light on what the transition from corner to safety was like for him and whether the move came naturally.

“Not at first,” McCourty said. “Like any time you change positions, you have to get reps and get used to it. But last year, moving a little bit of safety on pass downs, I think the biggest thing was just adjusting to playing it every down of the game. Once I got more and more reps in practice and then actually being out there in the game, I felt like I started to get a good feel for it. I was able to make a couple plays. Now I feel that I’ve gained a good amount of confidence in playing either position. Now it’s just going out there and playing.”

Starting with the Jets game at home on Oct. 21, McCourty was the starting safety out of necessity when Steve Gregory was out with a hip injury and Patrick Chung was sidelined with a shoulder injury. But then Talib was acquired, allowing McCourty to stay at safety. McCourty played eight straight games at safety before moving back to cornerback for the final two games of the season with the knee injury to Alfonzo Dennard.

Against Houston, he had a key first-quarter interception that changed the tone of the game early on. He read Matt Schaub’s eyes over the middle and picked him off at the goal line as the Texans were threatening to tie the game, 7-7.

“Just catching the ball,” McCourty recalled. “The biggest thing is just trying to read the quarterback and go from there. It sounds simple, but at different times against quarterbacks in this league, sometimes they do a good job of looking you off and doing different things like that. Just trying to read the quarterback. Bill [Belichick] is big on telling on us, ‘Just do your job’. I felt like that was a play where they threw the ball down the middle, I’m supposed to be in the middle of the field and just made a field.”

He had another interception the next week against the 49ers as the Patriots wiped out a 28-point second-half deficit. McCourty finished 2012 with a team-leading five picks.

What’s been the key? McCourty says understanding the mentality of a safety and quarterbacking the secondary.
Adding to that confidence were

“I mean that’s one thing,” he said. “But I think you also put the communication level and the importance is way greater at safety. At corner where you’re only one side of the field, you’re not asked to communicate as much to the rest of the defense as you are at safety.

“With [Jerod] Mayo making so many calls, he has to really worry about handling the linebackers and the front four. I think once you talk about the secondary, the safeties have to worry about handling everything with the coverage aspect. When you’re at safety, you have to really make sure everyone gets the calls and everyone is listening. Whenever I’m back at that position, I put a lot of that on myself. Along with Steve [Gregory] and Pat [Chung] being back there, just making sure everyone gets what we’re doing.

Here is the remainder of Thursday’s presser with Devin McCourty: Read the rest of this entry »

Vince Wilfork was more up in arms about a hit to his teammate than he was the fine that was handed out for it. (AP)

FOXBORO — Say this much, Vince Wilfork couldn’t have been very surprised when he got the envelope from the NFL on Friday.

The perennial pro bowl nose tackle was informed that he would be $30,000 lighter for his act of team unity last Sunday in Jacksonville.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Patrick Chung picked off Chad Henne at the goal line and raced 28 yards on the ensuing return. Toward the end of the return, Jaguars offensive lineman Steve Vallos drilled Patriots defensive end Trevor Scott from behind with a forearm.

Wilfork retaliated with a similar hit. Wilfork admitted after the game that he expected some sort of financial discipline from the league for the hit.

“That was protecting my teammate, plain and simple,” Wilfork said. “You’re not going to sit right in front of me and take a cheap shot at my guy with me standing behind you, that won’t fly. Plain and simple. I’ll probably get penalized for it, I did, but at the same time, you’ll never see me letting my teammates just get cheap-shotted like that with me standing right there.

“It is what it is, it’s part of football. Some people might not like it, some people might like it, but I’m going to do everything I can to protect my teammates,” he continued. “And I was protecting my teammate. But it is what it is, and I don’t think twice about it. If it happened again, I’d protect my teammate the best way I could.”

On Friday, the NFL deemed the hit “unnecessary roughness for a forearm to the back of the head” after Wilfork took exception with the way Vallos hit Patriots defensive end Trevor Scott just moments earlier on the return. Vallos was not flagged but Wilfork and the Patriots were assessed a 15-yard penalty.

Ironically, Chung was not fined for his hit to the head of Cecil Shorts III during Jacksconville’s final drive. Four different flags were thrown in Chung’s direction when he dropped his shoulder into Shorts with Devin McCourty already applying the tackle. Chung was assessed a 15-yard penalty for a hit on a defenseless receiver but the NFL confirmed Friday that the hit did not warrant an additional fine.

 Loading ...

Vince Wilfork had the back of one of his teammates Sunday in Jacksonville. 

On a day that Tom Brady blasted his own performance and that of his offensive teammates, another Patriots captain – Vince Wilfork -also had a defining moment of leadership.

Late in the fourth quarter, and the Jaguars threatening to tie the game, Chandler Jones hit Chad Henne on fourth-and-goal from the Patriots 10. Patrick Chung picked off the pass at the goal line and returned it to the Patriots 28.

But, during the return, Jacksonville offensive lineman Steve Vallos hit Trevor Scott from behind toward the end of the play. Vallos knocked Scott from behind and face first into the ground. Wilfork saw it and took big time exception with it and retaliated against Vallos. Wilfork was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty for sticking up for his teammate.

“That was protecting my teammate, plain and simple,” Wilfork said. “You’re not going to sit right in front of me and take a cheap shot at my guy with me standing behind you, that won’t fly. Plain and simple. I’ll probably get penalized for it, I did, but at the same time, you’ll never see me letting my teammates just get cheap-shotted like that with me standing right there.

“It is what it is, it’s part of football. Some people might not like it, some people might like it, but I’m going to do everything I can to protect my teammates,” he continued. “And I was protecting my teammate. But it is what it is, and I don’t think twice about it. If it happened again, I’d protect my teammate the best way I could.”

The screenshot of Patrick Chung's tweet moments before it was taken down. (Twitter image)

FOXBORO — In a cryptic message two hours before kickoff Sunday against the Colts, Patrick Chung tweeted Gotta love business. That tweet was taken down just minutes later.

About 20 minutes after Chung’s tweet, he was scratched for a fourth straight game. Chung has been practicing with the team and participated on a limited basis during all three practices this week before getting scratched on Sunday.

Chung injured his shoulder against the Seahawks, and this week a hamstring injury was added next to his name on the official injury report.

With the addition of Steve Gregory in the offseason, the move of Devin McCourty to his old spot at strong safety and the addition of left corner Aqib Talib, there has been rampant speculation that Chung, in the final year of his rookie contract, is playing his final season for the Patriots.

Chung was signed to a four-year, $5 million rookie contract after being drafted in the second round (34th overall) out of Oregon in the 2009 NFL draft.

 Loading ...

Devin McCourty (32) was part of a Patriots defense Sunday that kept things in check for the most part. (AP)

Twitter nearly crashed when Sam Bradford connected with Chris Givens for 50 yards on the fifth play of the game on Sunday for a touchdown that put the Rams up, 7-0.

The play – a play-action to the left side with a right side rollout by Bradford – drew in safeties Devin McCourty and Tavon Wilson just enough that the Rams QB could lob a bomb to his receiver on deep route. Givens caught the ball and tumbled into the end zone for a touchdown that mirrored the very same play that beat the Patriots in Seattle two weeks earlier.

Patriots fans in attendance at Wembley and watching on the tele back home couldn’t believe it happened again. Or maybe they could. But for McCourty – who was playing with rookies Alfonzo Dennard and Wilson – the Patriots had to find their composure quickly.

“Big play, definitely,” McCourty said after New England’s 45-7 win. “I think early in the season, that kills us, giving up a big play. Then we put our heads down, give up another one. I thought we did a good job today of putting that play past us, then playing great defense, after that. I think that’s what we have to focus on. Sometimes we are going to make some plays. We just got to keep playing, make our own plays.”

And make plays the two rookies did as Wilson and Dennard each came up with interceptions in the second half to help keep the Rams off the board.

“Our two rookies did a good job today, Tavon and Alfonzo, making two big plays on their own,” McCourty said. “That’s when you need those plays.”

The fact is the play to Givens accounted for just one score and it would be the only points the Patriots would allow as Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia switched to a pressure-based defense that featured three blitzes on the next Rams series. Dont’a Hightower, Wilson and Brandon Spikes all came up to force more pressure at the line of scrimmage. Throw in the fact that veteran corner Kyle Arrington went down with a head injury and the Patriots were already without Patrick Chung and Steve Gregory, and you see why McCourty was proud of the resiliency the secondary showed.

“There were some moving parts back there,” McCourty added. “I think Marquice Cole did a good job. I think he’s been ready all season, just waiting for his opportunity to get out there. Unfortunately when Kyle went down, he stepped in and played well. I think one thing we understand in this league, each game anything can happen. A lot of guys are just staying ready, being ready to go. Guys stepped up and played well.”

McCourty played his second game as starting safety with Gregory and Chung both out. And he’s starting to look and sound like a leader.

“Yeah, definitely. I felt I did a better job communicating, getting all those guys on the right track,” McCourty said. “Actually once you have some moving parts back there, guys go down, it’s important everybody lines up and plays the same defense. They put me back there, put me in charge of making sure everyone knows what they’re doing. I felt I did a better job this week than last week. Things started to slow down for me back there.

 Loading ...