Several former Patriots have stopped in Foxborough during training camp this summer, but no former player has been here more often than Devin McCourty.

The former safety, who is working as a television commentator for the Patriots’ three preseason games this year – including Thursday’s opener against the Panthers – has been on the practice field consulting with the defensive backs, signing autographs, chatting with fans and making it his goal to talk to his former teammate and current head coach Jerod Mayo.

McCourty, a three-time Super Bowl champion, has his eye on both sides of the ball in anticipation of his television work. At this point, and given last season’s 4-13 record, he says this year’s roster is all about managing expectations.

“At this point in the year, it’s just a process,” he said. “I think the goal for teams, especially when you had four wins last year, is to just look like you’re a good football team. Do the things you need to do well.”

“Mayo will yell at them for a fumble on a handoff and the defense will catch it. Broken coverage. Those are the things you don’t want to see. The communication problems. Those are basic things. Those are the things Bill (Belichick) always told us: ‘High school kids can go out and do these things.’

“I think those are the things you want to do well and you just want to continue to build on those things to ultimately get to doing them consistently at a high level.

“I’ve seen that. I’ve seen some of those good things. It’s not always going to be perfect. It’s training camp. You’re going to have good days and bad days. I think there’s been some good back and forth. There’s been some good plays on offense, some good plays on defense.

“I think it’s fun for me as an older player to be here and see some of these young receivers line up and make plays, but also see the DBs line up and make plays as well.

“That’s what makes a good football team. It’s not good when the offense catches every pass. On the other hand, it’s not good when you say, ‘Damn, those receivers haven’t caught a pass in a long time.’ It shows you that we have a chance to be good on both sides of the ball.”

Given McCourty’s background, he was happy to talk about the state of the secondary, particularly safeties Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers. Both are lanky hitters who enjoy the physical aspect of the game. They play in the box to assist in the run game or work in coverage against a tight end or running back. But neither has the look of a classic free safety, a position McCourty mastered for over a decade as part of the Patriots.

“I look at Dugg and Pep and everyone in football always says, ‘Neither of them is a true free safety,'” he said. “OK, let’s move on to the next point: What do these guys do really well? They can blitz. They can cover. They can play midfield.

“They may not be the guys who can stay in the middle of the field the whole game because they want variety. But they can also play linebacker roles. They can do all these different things.

“Watching them last year, that was one of the things they did really well – they had the ability to play all over the field. And I think both of those guys do a great job of learning and knowing what the offense is doing and then how that defense can be the best.

“What I always liked about playing in that defense was the ownership. Everyone always talked about ownership. Hey, we can call you, but we want you to know the defense so well that you can bring us in better. And I know that’s how Pep is, that’s his nature. And I know from Dugg, in the years I was with him, that’s all I told him when he came in.”

McCourty’s television work has allowed him to keep one foot in the game since retiring after the 2022 season, but he has no illusions about where he is at this point in his life. When asked if he misses life as a player, he has a quick answer.

“I miss the camaraderie,” he said. “If you told me if there was a contract here that would pay me a good amount of money to play here, I would tell you, ‘Hey, I’ve enjoyed it for 13 years. I love this new chapter of my life.’

“But I go downstairs. I go into the locker room. That’s what you don’t get anymore. I can compete and do different things to get what football gave me at the competitive level, but you can’t find the camaraderie. I definitely miss that.”

Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.