Stephon Gilmore will head into the 2020 regular season as the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, but you wouldn't know it listening to him speak.
Following the Patriots' first full padded practice Monday, Gilmore acknowledged what happened last year really doesn't mean anything now.
"I have to earn it," he said via video conference. "Whatever my goals are, whatever I want to achieve, I have to earn it. It's not easy. Practicing hard, working on my technique and making plays with my teammates. It takes day-to-day preparation and day-to-day execution. So (I'm) just looking forward to training camp and looking forward to the season and seeing how it goes."
Gilmore trained with former NFL cornerback Dre Bly this offseason.
"I just try to be the same guy and player that I am," he said. "I just put in work each and every day. And I know what it took for me last year to play consistently each and every game. There's nothing I can do but just put my head down and work hard and try to achieve things this year each and every day."
Cornerback continues to be the deepest position on the team and led by Gilmore the group may need to be even better than a year ago with the safety spot losing veterans Duron Harmon and Patrick Chung this offseason.
"I just take it day by day," Gilmore said. "It's not easy. You have to work for whatever you earn in this league, whatever accolades you win, you have to work for. So I know it's not going to be easy. I have to put the work in each and every day and compete against my teammates and get better. Hopefully, that carries over to the game, but it takes one day at a time, and that's how I approach it."
The Patriots will be back on the practice field Tuesday.
