McCourty adjusting to life without twin brother

Entering this year’s spring practice was weird for fifth-year senior cornerback Devin McCourty, as it was the first time as a member of the Rutgers football team that McCourty would not play alongside his twin brother Jason.
Jason, also a cornerback, did not redshirt his freshman season, meaning that his four years of eligibility are up and he is now making strides to catch on with an NFL team.
Until this year, the brothers had played opposite each other on the field for three consecutive seasons.
“This is the fifth or sixth practice that we’ve been out there and it’s definitely different, but I’m getting used to it,” McCourty said.
With Jason gone, Devin has taken on the role of lead cornerback and for the first time will be playing opposite of fifth-year senior Billy Anderson.
Practicing with Anderson and the other guys on defense has been something that McCourty has had to get used to, but he feels that they are making good progress and that the team is giving its all.
So far this spring, McCourty likes what he has seen from both the offense and defense.
“I think it’s a good start for our spring,” he said. “Guys are coming out, they’re competing and they’re working hard and that’s all you can ask for.”
This spring, McCourty has taken on not only the role of lead cornerback but also one of a defensive and overall team leader.
He said that he has always felt that he has been somewhat of a leader, as his teammates have looked up to him for years now.
Yet McCourty will take a more vocal approach this year, an aspect of the role that he feels he has not really taken on in the past.
“I’m just trying to be a more vocal leader this year, trying to speak at different times just to try to keep the team going and making sure we stay on the right path,” he said.
McCourty hopes that this approach will be more motivating to the team and that it will help point the players in the right direction for this upcoming season.
He has focused much of his leadership on helping the younger cornerbacks on the squad by teaching them moves that he has learned over the years with the team.
“I’m just trying to teach our younger corners some things that you learn through experience and trying to give them a head start out there,” he said.
Although McCourty is confident about the progression of the team over the spring, he still thinks that there is much it can improve on before the start of the season.
“It’s early right now and as a team we have a lot of things to do if we want to be a good team,” he said.
His suggestion for the team is to focus on nothing else except what the guys can do to better themselves both as individuals and as a team.