Two New England Patriots players were especially excited about Thursday’s trade for cornerback Jason McCourty.
One, of course, was safety Devin McCourty, the cornerback’s twin brother and former teammate at Rutgers.
The twins had talked for years about linking back up in the NFL, and their long-awaited reunion after nine seasons apart prompted a special message from their joint Twitter account — one that was not punctuated by their usual “D-Mac” or “J-Mac” signatures.
Patriots safety Duron Harmon also was thrilled by the news. Harmon is a fellow Rutgers product, playing one season there with Devin McCourty in 2009 and arriving one year after Jason had left for the NFL.
Harmon also piggybacked on a congratulatory tweet from another Scarlet Knights alum, former Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan, who left New England last year to join the Tennessee Titans.
Patriots wide receiver Kenny Britt also played with both McCourtys at Rutgers. New England safeties coach Steve Belichick is a former Rutgers lacrosse player and long snapper.
The addition of Jason McCourty bolstered a Patriots cornerback group that lost Malcolm Butler to the Titans earlier in the week. He’ll likely start opposite Stephon Gilmore to begin camp, with Eric Rowe, Jonathan Jones and Cyrus Jones battling for the third and fourth corner spots. Ryan Lewis and Jomal Wiltz also will be in the mix after spending the 2017 season on the practice squad.
Having spent his nine NFL season with the Titans and Browns, Jason McCourty never has played in a playoff game. Barring a stunning collapse of the Patriots organization, that should change in 2018.
The trade also gave the Patriots the rare distinction of having two sets of twin brothers on their roster. Tight end Jacob Hollister and wide receiver Cody Hollister are the other.
