FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are set to renew their rivalry for the first time in three seasons on Sunday, which will feature many new faces since the last time the two teams played in 2019.

Sunday's game will mark the first Patriots-Steelers matchup to have neither Tom Brady quarterbacking the Patriots nor Ben Roethlisberger quarterbacking the Steelers since 1998. For Pittsburgh, Sunday is just the second game in the post-Roethlisberger era. But for New England, it's now in Year 3 post-Brady.

Patriots safety Devin McCourty, who joined the team in 2010 when he was drafted and is the second-longest tenured Patriot, said that New England is in a transition phase even though it has the league's third-oldest roster and made the playoffs last season without Brady. He also recognized that the transitioning phase also means the Patriots are preparing for what life will be like without him.

“I'm 35 and I'm just trying to win games,” McCourty said. “I don't have another side of what you would call a transition – there's a phase now and there's like a next phase. I've got no shot at being a part of the next phase. Obviously, there is a transition because there are a lot of guys who played a lot of good football for both teams that are either retired or are on other teams. It is a lot of new faces.

“Our team has a lot of young guys. I've got a lot of mentions about the age of our team being skewed by a couple of us. But we do – we do have a lot of young players that I think are transitioning. We have young guys that are moving into that veteran phase that I think have done a great job of stepping up and being leaders.”

McCourty isn't incorrect in saying that the Patriots have a lot of young players. They've got a whopping 10 rookies on their roster, blending in really young players with very experienced players.

Devin McCourty is just one of three players remaining that played on each of the last three Patriots' Super Bowl-winning teams (Matthew Slater and Marcus Cannon, who rejoined New England on its practice squad earlier this week, are the other two). McCourty believes he can help instill what he learned from those years to the Patriots' young players.

“The reason myself and Slater are here are to not just preach those transition things, but to also talk about winning games and try to be a good football team, because no matter what you call it, that's the game of the game: winning football games,” McCourty said.

One of those players McCourty is mentoring is Kyle Dugger. The third-year safety has already made a lot of great impressions since New England selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft as he led the team in tackles last season.

Dugger mostly got off to a good start to his third season on Sunday. He had six tackles (five solo) with two for a loss. However, Dugger made a costly mistake, too. On a fourth-and-7 for the Dolphins late in the first half, receiver Jaylen Waddle made a routine catch over the middle that should have been just enough for a first down. However, Dugger took a bad angle when trying to tackle Waddle, allowing the receiver to scamper into the end zone to give Miami a 17-0 lead at the half instead of a 13-0 lead.

McCourty admitted that's a play Dugger messed up on, but also said that he makes many more good plays than mistakes.

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“I’m one of his biggest fans,” McCourty said. “I think you guys saw it Sunday. Obviously not the play he wanted on that play, but the guy was all over the field making plays. He can cover. He can just do everything on the field, so [there’s] no reason for him to lack confidence going on the field at all. And I don’t think I have a lot of concern. He’s a quiet guy. He stays pretty even-keeled throughout the whole game, and it’s been fun watching him develop.

“We’re going to expect a lot from him game in and game out, honestly, to be one of our best players out there, and I think he’s up for that challenge.”

Devin McCourty hopes that he can help teach the Patriots' young guys even more so that they can bounce back and win on Sunday to move to 1-1 on the season.