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The New England Patriots know when to move on from players, but a former cornerback is gaining a ton of praise from quarterback Mac Jones.
New England is preparing for a Week 9 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts that will see the Patriots offense go up against a former teammate. After being traded to the Carolina Panthers last season, Stephon Gilmore signed with the Colts as a free agent this offseason. This will be Gilmore’s first game in Gillette Stadium since leaving the organization.
The Colts have struggled this year and so far Gilmore has 29 tackles and an interception per Pro Football Reference. When meeting with the media, Jones praised Gilmore ahead of facing the cornerback on the field.
“He looks great,” Jones said regarding Gilmore. “I was here with him just for a little bit, obviously. He was injured and stuff. But he looks great out there. He’s just a great cornerback and still is. You can tell they’re putting him out there and he’s locking down the guys for the most part — just covering them 1-on-1 and doing his thing.
“He’s definitely still a premier cornerback, and I have all the respect in the world for him and how he treated me when I was here young,” Jones added. “Just some of the information that he gave me in the training room or just at his locker. He’s definitely an all-time dude, and I’m excited to go against him here.”
What Does Bill Belichick Think of the Colts Defense?
In his opening comments with the media on Wednesday, New England’s head coach praised Indianapolis’ defense including Yannick Ngakoue and Gilmore.
“Defensively as I said, Ngakoue and Gilmore are additions to an already outstanding group really with [Kenny] Moore [II] and [Shaquille] Leonard,” Belichick said. “[Zaire] Franklin’s had a lot of production. You see him in the kicking game as well. [Grover] Stewart’s playing really well and obviously [DeForest] Buckner is a major force. Really good defensive group. Coach [Gus] Bradley has installed his scheme which has always been tough to deal with. There are some similarities to what they did last year. Obviously, it’s different with a different coordinator, it’s a little different but it’s a four-down scheme with a lot of similar principles defensively.”
When specifically talking about Gilmore, Belichick described the veteran as a “obviously a good corner.”
How Does Belichick Feel About New England’s Roster?
With the passing of the trade deadline, the Patriots roster will look relatively the same for the rest of the season. The Patriots stood pat at the deadline and made zero moves while some AFC East teams made some trades.
Belichick was asked about the status of the roster on Wednesday.
“Yeah, well we’re always looking to improve,” he said. “We added a couple practice squad players this week. So, it would be hard for me to say there wouldn’t be any roster changes between now and the end of the year. I think that would be a stretch, but I don’t know, who knows? We’ll see how it goes.”
Belichick didn’t have a lot to say about possible trade deadline moves when asked about possible deals.
“Yeah, we’re done. The trade deadline is over, so we’re moving on to the Colts,” Belichick said. “Nothing happened, so we’re moving on.”