New England Patriots
“It feels good to have another Cal Bear next to me.”
Craig Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins have emerged as key players on New England’s roster. Winslow Townson / AP & Greg M. Cooper / AP
February 6, 2026 | 2:42 PM
6 minutes to read
SAN FRANCISCO — The more things change, the more they stay the same.
At least, that’s the way Devin McCourty views things in Foxborough.
The 2025 Patriots aren’t exactly cut from the same cloth as the New England clubs that established a two-decade dynasty.
The sight of Mike Vrabel taking headbutting his players on the sideline stands in stark contrast to Bill Belichick’s brooding gaze. Drake Maye’s knack for carving up defenses on the ground is a different look from Tom Brady’s poised and precise operating under center.
But as McCourty gets ready to watch his former team compete for a seventh Super Bowl title on Sunday, the now-NBC broadcaster does see some similarities on the defensive side of the ball — especially when it comes to a safety duo that is just now starting to receive its flowers.
Craig Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins may not be the most feared players on a Patriots defense anchored by the likes of Christian Gonzalez, Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, and others.
But McCourty believes that tandem is very similar to a once-unproven duo in New England’s secondary — a group that ended up thriving on football’s highest stage.
“From our era, I love playing with Pat Chung. And when I talk to those guys, when I watch those guys, there’s a joy that me and Pat developed over being in New England,” McCourty said. “These guys came in as playing together in college, and now you’re in the NFL together, you can see how much joy they have playing with each other. I think that helps you play that position, because you guys have got to be on the same page.
‘These were two guys that, when the team went with them at the end of training camp, everybody was like, What the heck is going on? Now they’re going to be their two starters.”
It’s been a whirlwind season for both Woodson and Hawkins – a rookie and depth safety, respectively, who few expected would be featured starters in New England’s secondary.
But with both Cal alums now back in the Bay Area, both Woodson and Hawkins are looking to prove doubters wrong once again as they try to shut down a potent Seahawks offense in Super Bowl LX.
“It’s surreal,” Hawkins said. “It’s a full-circle moment, and it’s just so cool to be back here. Everything just hits you all at like, woah. Back in my home state, it’s a blessing.”
Putting himself on the map
Hawkins and Woodson only overlapped one season together at Cal, with Woodson arriving in Berkley in 2019 — the same year as Hawkins’ final season with the Golden Bears.
Even back then, Hawkins was impressed with what he saw from an instinctive freshman in Woodson.
Just a way that he can acknowledge and learn plays fast, man,” Hawkins said. “The way he can break down things out there on the field? He’s a vet.”
It was a sentiment shared by former Cal co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Terrence Brown when it came to Woodson’s ability to hit the ground running on the gridiron.
“The first thing that I noticed about him was his desire to be great,” Brown said of Woodson. “I think he was committed to being the best version of himself. And I think he held himself to a really high standard. He’s extremely smart. I mean, he’s as sharp as they get. I think that’s why he is who he is.”
Woodson’s high football IQ and impressive closing speed were enough for the Patriots to select the talented defensive back in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
At the time, Woodson was expected to serve as valuable depth in New England’s secondary, joining Hawkins and a cast of other safeties behind presumed starters Jabrill Pepper and Kyle Dugger.
It was a hierarchy that didn’t last for long.
Establishing themselves
With Mike Vrabel now in place as Patriots head coach, it was to be expected that there would be turnover on New England’s defense in 2025.
But few expected that New England’s starting two safeties would quickly end up on the outside looking in at reps.
Peppers was released in late August, right before the start of the 2025 season, while Dugger — whose snaps dipped throughout preseason action — was eventually dealt to Pittsburgh at the end of October.
Beyond any shifts in scheme, the Patriots were confident in rolling with Woodson and Hawkins — despite the gamble that comes with moving forward with a rookie and a veteran who had yet to entrench himself as a starter to that point.
It turned out to be a master stroke of roster management for Vrabel and his staff.
Hawkins appeared in 15 games for New England during regular-season play, recording 71 tackles and notching four interceptions. Pro Football Focus assessed Hawkins with an 82.4 grade for the 2025 season — ranking fifth among 98 qualified safeties this season.
“He’s versatile, man. He can do everything,” Woodson said of Hawkins. “He can be in the box, make plays at the line of scrimmage, and then he can drop out and get that big pick that we need.”
Woodson has also been thrown into the fire this season, with his 949 snaps ranking 31st out of 179 qualified safeties in the NFL.
After recording 76 tackles and defending three passes during 17 regular-season games, Woodson has played his best football during the postseason.
Through three playoff victories, Woodson has posted 20 total tackles, four pass breakups, one tackle for loss, one QB hit, one interception, and one fumble recovery. On a Patriots defense that is averaging just 8.7 points per game this postseason, Woodson’s rise has been a major lift.
Woodson’s maturity has been evident to team captain Marcus Jones, who has seen him continue to get better and better as this season progressed.
“Guys come into the league and they think they know everything, and he wasn’t that at all,” Jones said. “He didn’t have that mindset. Whenever we were in training camp, he always asked questions. Hey, if this happens, how can I do this? And he has his own way of handling things that we’ve seen.”
For all of the discourse at the start of the season regarding New England’s go-to options in its secondary, both Woodson and Hawkins thrived this season on a Patriots team riding a stout defense all the way to Super Bowl LX.
“Just having him here, it’s been a blessing,” Hawkins said of Woodson. “Me and him, just having chemistry out there on the field, bro, it’s something that you can’t really teach. It’s something that you just build over time, and we’ve done that over the course of the season. It feels good to have another Cal Bear next to me.”
Ready for what’s next
Both Woodson and Hawkins will have their hands full on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
A lot has been said of Seattle’s stout defense, but Sam Darnold is one of the top conductors of explosive plays this season, due in large part to star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
With Smith-Njigba capable of shredding defenses with his wide array of cuts and crisp routes and Rashid Shaheed standing as a home-run hitter with his straight-line speed, both Hawkins and Woodson will need to keep their heads on a swivel in Super Bowl LX.
But back on their old turf, both Hawkins and Woodson aren’t lacking in confidence ahead of the biggest games of their life.
It’s a belief that now has them just one win away from football’s greatest prize.
“When it was all said and done, I had a feeling that he was going to be a really good player,” Brown said of Woodson from his days at Cal. “He was going to be able to attain success that was available for him.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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