FOXBORO, Mass. — Devin McCourty was back to work Wednesday, and as a New England Patriots captain, that meant being asked questions the safety understandably didn’t want to answer.
McCourty was fresh off his conditioning test — don’t worry, he passed — when he stepped to the podium and had the unfortunate task of following a heated Robert Kraft and typically tight-lipped Bill Belichick.
Kraft put his full support behind Brady and apologized to Patriots fans in his surprise statement, delivering a figurative RKO out of nowhere to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for upholding the quarterback’s four-game suspension.
McCourty chose to stand by the Patriots owner’s comments.
“Yeah, the great thing about this organization is no matter who comes up here and speaks, they really represent and speak for the organization as a whole,” McCourty said. “Mr. Kraft comes up here, he talks, he’s not just talking for himself or for Coach Belichick or the coaches but the players, as well. We all feel the same way. Mr. Kraft came up and addressed everything earlier. We feel the same way. I think we all know we have different roles on this team, and our role is to play football. That’s what we have to do, and that’s our focus.”
McCourty gave a Belichick-ian response to Goodell’s announcement that Brady’s four-game suspension was upheld.
“For us, it is what it is,” McCourty said. “Our focus right now is, you guys know, back to training camp, trying to get better each day at training camp and get ready for the (Green Bay) Packers.”
McCourty stood by his quarterback and reiterated what the team said in a statement released Tuesday night when asked if he believes Brady did nothing wrong.
“We support Tom, and like Mr. Kraft said, we support him and we believe in him,” McCourty said.
With McCourty’s conditioning test out of the way, he’ll be out on the field Thursday when the Patriots begin training camp practices.
Kraft said he instructed his team not to comment on Brady’s suspension until the legal process has played out, so don’t expect the Patriots to make any headlines about their quarterback in the coming weeks.
Thumbnail photo via Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports Images
