It came as a shock to many that Malcolm Butler didn't log a defensive snap for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Devin McCourty says that Butler's benching, however, didn't come as a surprise to Patriots' players.
"We all knew he wasn't starting all week. That wasn't a secret to the guys on the team," McCourty said.
Bill Belichick said after the Super Bowl that the benching wasn't disciplinary.
"I get why people are fishing. The guy played 98 percent of the plays [in the regular season]. I just hate that for him character-wise going into free agency; it's just not true. As far as I know, and I was there all week, not one time did anything come up," McCourty said.
Via Mike Reiss/ESPN