Malcolm Butler's benching in Super Bowl LII remains such a mystery that even his New England Patriots teammates don't know why he didn't play in that game.

Devin McCourty, who announced his retirement earlier in March, is the latest player from that Patriots team that lost to the Philadelphia Eagles that doesn't know why Butler didn't play in that game. McCourty, and other players from that group, are hoping to get an explanation from Butler, who told multiple outlets in February that he has a book and documentary coming out soon and teased the answer to that years-long mystery might be answered in those.

“To this day, I still don’t know the exact reason why he didn’t play,” McCourty said to former Patriots teammate Chris Long, who played for the Eagles in that Super Bowl, on the Green Light podcast. “When I saw he was coming out with a book and a documentary, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to read that.’ Gilly (Stephon Gilmore) actually texted me and was like, ‘I’m going to buy this book ASAP.’”

Gilmore, who started opposite of Butler at corner for most of that season, saw the Eagles' offense and Nick Foles move the ball with ease against them in that Super Bowl, allowing 538 yards in a 41-33 loss.

Because of the result, Butler's benching led to many questions in the immediate aftermath of the Patriots' Super Bowl loss. There was speculation that he might have done something to offend the coaching staff or he just missed curfew one night, among other theories.

Patriots players reportedly asked Bill Belichick for answers about why he benched Butler that day and got no response. Even Tom Brady came to Butler's defense, as he was one of the many Patriots players at the time who showed support for him on an Instagram post the corner made.

The situation could've easily sunk the team in 2018. But it ultimately didn't as they bounced back and won Super Bowl LIII. McCourty credited Brian Flores, who became the Patriots' defensive play-caller that season, for making sure things didn't unravel.

“Think about it: If there was something to know, we’re years past all of those guys on the team, and you haven’t heard anybody [reveal the reason],” McCourty said. “None of us knew. Matter of fact, the next year, I remember meeting with Flo and Flo was like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make sure that whole situation doesn’t affect the team this year.’

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“He was like, ‘I look back at Seattle when we played them in the Super Bowl and they don’t run the ball.' He was like, ‘It kind of seemed like that was the end to that team. They never got back to the Super Bowl, and that team was so talented. That Seattle team had everything.’ He was like, ‘I just don’t want that to destroy us.’”

While that Super Bowl win brought a happy ending for many Patriots players, Butler left the team as a free agent prior to that season, still leaving questions to a mystery we may never get the answer to.