Is a feud brewing between Stephon Gilmore and DeVante Parker?

New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore and Miami Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker are going at it — both on and off the field.

Stephon Gilmore is one of the most soft-spoken players in the NFL — but you still don’t want to cross him.

He’s long since established that he prefers to let his play on the field do the talking for him. And, over the course of an eight-year professional career, that method has worked for him. He’s created a sterling reputation as being one of the best, most shutdown cornerbacks in the league.

Recently, however, Gilmore has shown more of a willingness to speak up a bit. He was vocal about his feelings in 2019 that he deserved to win the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award, and he also wasn’t afraid to get into a back-and-forth on social media with then-Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins following their meeting in Week 13.

Now, it appears that Gilmore could be getting lured into another scenario where he may feel inclined to do a bit more “talking” than he’d normally like to.

According to ClutchPoints’ Skyler Carlin, Miami Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker is the one who could be stirring the pot with Gilmore this time around. Parker posted an image on Instagram over the weekend of him making a catch on Gilmore during their head-to-head tilt in Week 17 last season.

The caption reads: “Ignore him and attack the football.”

On the surface, the post seems innocent enough. You could certainly make the argument that it definitely paints Gilmore in an unflattering light, but at the end of the day, it’s probably sound coaching advice that Parker received in this moment to “ignore” the All-Pro CB and “attack the football” in order to make the catch.

Parker had eight receptions for 137 yards that day in the Dolphins’ pivotal upset of the Patriots in Foxborough.

A deeper dive into the history of social media, however, reveals that Parker’s post is much more intentional and pointed that it appears at first.

Why? Because two years ago, Gilmore posted an image to his Instagram account wherein he’s jumping a route in front of Parker and snagging an interception off of him. The icing on the cake is the caption: “Ignore him and go get the ball.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiS_2aOhNG2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Is it just a one-time payback or is the beginning of a feud?

Parker could just be firing back at Gilmore for the slight he feels he suffered a couple seasons ago. If Gilmore lets it go, that will probably be the end of this whole ordeal.

Of course, there’s no way of telling yet if “Gilly Lock” plans to let it go.

We may just have to wait and see if Gilmore responds to the post directly or creates another back-and-forth online with Parker. Even if he doesn’t, there’s a decent chance the battles between the two in Week 1 this year could be even more contentious and heated thanks to this social media dust-up.

For what it’s worth, while Parker got the upper hand of Gilmore in Week 17, Gilmore absolutely shut Parker down in Week 2, holding the former Louisville Cardinal WR without a catch.