Why Patriots Great Believes Team Will Be ‘Better Than People Think’

Each year, Bill Belichick stresses to his Patriots players the importance of "ignoring the noise." But one former New England star believes Belichick will be motivated to prove the Patriots' many doubters wrong this season.

Appearing Thursday on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football," retired safety Devin McCourty said the Patriots' last-place projections, coupled with Belichick's pursuit of Don Shula's all-time wins record, will help them defy expectations.

“I think this team is going to be better than people think," McCourty said, via MassLive.com. "Bill is focused this year. He's locked in. We're talking about legacy now. He's second all-time in wins. He's not going to talk about it, but why would you not want to be first? You're right there. I think he wants to continue to prove to people, 'I am Coach Belichick. I am the Bill Belichick. We will show what we're made of.'

"They're out there practicing hard at OTAs. They had a down day the other day at OTAs because the other day was so hard. It's not training camp, we're talking about OTAs, but a down day? That’s how hard they're working because they want to prove to everybody that 'we're not fourth in this division.' "

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Belichick needs 19 wins to pass Shula for the most in NFL history. Oddsmakers don't expect him to make much of a dent in that number this season. As of Thursday, FanDuel Sportsbook had the Patriots pegged as +750 long shots to win the AFC East -- far behind the Bills at +130, the Jets at +250 and the Dolphins at +290 -- and set their over/under win total at 7.5. New York and Miami both were at 9.5, and Buffalo sat at 10.5.

McCourty fully expects Belichick to play the "nobody believes in us" card for the Patriots, who missed the playoffs last season and have not won a playoff game since Super Bowl LIII.

"In 2018, we took on that mindset of 'we're no good, Tom Brady's done,' and that's the best ball we played at the end of the season," McCourty said, referring to New England's most recent championship run. "This team feeds off that. ... They love being the underdogs. I think this team thrives and everybody thrives in that -- when (Belichick) can create the 'everybody vs. New England' mentality in the locker room. That’s when you usually see this team play their best ball."

There are reasons beyond added motivation to believe the Patriots will improve this season. Chief among them is the return of offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, who's already instilled a level of cohesiveness and stability that was absent during the ill-fated Matt Patricia/Joe Judge era.

If O'Brien can get the Patriots' Mac Jones-led offense even back to league average, New England should be squarely in the playoff picture, though they'll need to navigate a stacked division and one of the NFL's most difficult schedules.