The New England Patriots didn't have the season they envisioned having in 2020 as they missed the playoffs and went 7-9. While reflecting on this season, Devin McCourty made interesting comments on New England's existing culture.

“I think that's what we still have. We didn't win as much as we wanted, but we have a lot of guys who believe in winning,” McCourty said, via Nick Goss of NBC Sports. “Obviously, starting with coach (Bill) Belichick and down. Those guys in the Patriots locker room want to win. We just have to learn how to win. Learn how to win now without Tom Brady. We had to try to learn how to win in one year without Tom, (Dont'a) Hightower, (Patrick) Chung, Jamie (Collins), (Kyle Van Noy). We had to learn how to win without a lot of guys.

Ahead of the 2020 season, the Patriots were ravaged by the number of players that chose to opt-out of the season due to COVID-19. But the biggest loss that the team endured was when Tom Brady left New England to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Following the exodus of Brady, they lost their go-to leader in the locker room. Besides Brady, New England was also missing veterans like Dont'a Hightower and Patrick Chung on the defense as well.

With Cam Newton under center in 2020, the Patriots never seemed to get into a rhythm as a unit. Regardless of who is leading the offense next season, McCourty hopes that the culture in New England goes back to being a winning one with all of the opt-outs expected to return in 2021.