Patriots: Stephon Gilmore clearly ready for DeVante Parker rematch
By Adam Weinrib
Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore is very ready to get matched up with DeVante Parker again.
Week 1 is about to look very familiar for Patriots fans.
Generally, that sentiment is true, but it refers to continuity under center and on the sidelines. This time around, it won’t evoke a sense of nostalgia they have any interest in revisiting.
The last time we saw the Pats and Dolphins lock horns was a game New England would rather forget in Week 17 of 2019. There wasn’t much to glean from Ryan Fitzpatrick leveling up and shredding the best defense in football; it was one of those instance you just had to stare at while muttering.
Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore’s tough day at the office, taken to task by DeVante Parker to the tune of 8 receptions for 137 yards, became symbolic of the effort. Up was down, left was right, and Ryan Fitzpatrick was running through the hole that left-right confusion created for 12 yards at a time.
FINAL: Dolphins 27, Patriots 24
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) December 29, 2019
The Patriots lost the No. 2 seed and will play in the wildcard round for the first time since 2019. What a terrible, terrible loss.
With eight extremely strange months to reflect on things, many of them spent in isolation, Gilmore appears to have come out on the other side ready to battle once more.
You didn’t expect him to sit around, sulk, and resign the matchup before it started, did you?
Gilmore reflected on the opportunity ahead of him in Week 1, with the Dolphins beginning the 2020 season exactly where they finished the last 16-gamer in Foxborough, and with Fitzpatrick still the starter despite the shiny toy currently perched behind him on the depth chart.
Parker will be there, too, and Gilmore is beyond ready to deploy the lock that failed him in Week 17.
Stephon Gilmore on his rematch with DeVante Parker: "the good thing about football is every year starts over. You have a chance to prove yourself every year." #Patriots
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) September 7, 2020
It’s a new year for everyone in Foxborough, especially for a competitor like Gilmore, who likely forgot all about his individual accolades when the team’s defense failed to live up to their standards at the end of the season.
The 2020 season is all about new beginnings, even though it ironically starts the same way last season ended. For Gilmore, he sees a shot at a redemption story on the docket immediately, and though Parker will be motivated to prove his breakout was not a fluke, we can’t bet against the man with the grudge.
