Recently acquired Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty sat down with the PFW in Progress crew—without his twin brother Devin, for a change—last week in a surprisingly candid fifteen-minute interview covering everything from where he fits into the defense to how his mother feels about the fact he’s a Patriot.

When asked whether he "plays at all inside", he noted that he’s played outside for most of his career, but emphasized that he knows "the techniques and responsibilities of both positions" and it’s "a matter of whatever the team needs." He mentioned that he played inside for a game last season in Cleveland due to injuries in the Browns secondary.

2018 second round pick Duke Dawson and 2016 UDFA Jonathan Jones are each slot corners, so McCourty will most likely still play opposite Stephon Gilmore on the outside, barring injury, or veteran Eric Rowe making a very strong case in training camp that he deserves the spot.

McCourty and his twin brother Devin played cornerback together at Rutgers, but Devin was moved up to free safety in his third year in the NFL. Devin has played eight seasons for the Patriots and been named Second Team All-Pro three times since being drafted #27 overall in 2010. Jason was drafted by the Titans in 2009 and played eight seasons in Tennessee before signing with Cleveland last off-season.

Jason said they didn’t have a "special type of communication on the field" at Rutgers when asked, but added that their communication was "key" in meeting rooms, and that Devin’s role as a safety could create a lot of opportunities to communicate on-field on the Patriots. "We’re excited to see what that turns into."

The Patriots traded their 2018 sixth round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Jason McCourty and a 2018 seventh back in March. Improving the Patriots defense, which allowed 41 points in Super Bowl LII, has been one of the most discussed topics of the off-season.

Some topics did generate standard "Patriot Way" responses. When Paul joked that the Jets don’t require as much preparation, he said "we don’t talk like that." When Fred added that "I think you guys are gonna go 15-1" he replied "no comment."

McCourty also discussed how exciting it is for their family that the siblings are now on the same team. He said that his mother is planning to go to every training camp practice, and that he looks forward to his children being able to spend time with Devin’s.

Other topics included why he didn’t join the Patriots last off-season, how he managed to get Duron Harmon’s number, his feelings on watching his brother win two Super Bowls, and the fact he is already well into studying the Patriots defense.

The interview runs from 37:05 to 50:30 of last Tuesday’s episode of PFW in Progress, for those who want to listen to it in full. I recommend it.

/u/douglasmacarthur is a moderator on reddit’s r/Patriots community and hosts The Official r/Patriots Podcast. r/Patriots is on Twitter as @rslashpatriots.