New England cornerback Jalen Mills takes part in drills at a team’s practice on June 13 Foxborough, Mass. Steven Senne/Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass – It wasn’t that long ago that Jonathan Jones was looking up to Devin McCourty. For him, it feels like yesterday when he came to the Patriots as an undrafted rookie in 2016.

That year also marked the first for Jalen Mills. A seventh-round pick for the Philadelphia Eagles, when the cornerback arrived in the league, veteran players such as Malcolm Jenkins told him to soak it up because an NFL career goes by in a flash.

Eight years later, both Jones and Mills can attest to that, and they still feel like they’re getting used to being the veterans in the Patriots defensive back rooms. On Tuesday, Jones said he was reminded recently, by McCourty, that he’ll have to fill his shoes this season.

“Man, full circle for me. I’ve been here going on eight years. I’m so used to Devin and everything kind of went to Devin,” Jones said. “I was with him on the phone the other day and he was like, ‘you’re the guy now. You’re the guy they’re going to ask questions about the history and about the past.’ It’s coming full circle.”

“I’m going on Year 8. Me and J-Jones, the same draft class. It’s like a blink,” Mills added. “You come in like a rookie and the older veteran guys tell you that it goes by fast. You don’t know until you’re actually there. It’s Year 8 and I still feel like I was a rookie a couple years ago.”

After McCourty retired this offseason, the Patriots will play without the longtime captain for the first time since 2009. For Jones and Mills, they’ve stepped up to help the laundry list of young defensive backs who are now in Foxborough.

The last two Patriots draft classes have brought in six new defensive backs – Marcus Jones, Jack Jones, Christian Gonzalez, Marte Mapu, Ameer Speed and Isaiah Bolden. Mills and Jones said they were impressed with this year’s rookie class after watching them on and off the practice field in OTAs and minicamp.

“We brought in a really good class of young guys this year. In the spring, they all kind of bought in. It’s a very smart group,” Jones said. “They bought in and were asking questions in meetings. I’m excited to see them in training camp.”

“I think the biggest thing was the whole group in general,” added Mills. “They were smart players – asking the questions that needed to be asked in meetings and going out in the practice field and executing at a high level.”

LLOYD HOWELL will succeed DeMaurice Smith as the NFL Players Association’s executive director, the NFLPA’s board of player representatives announced Wednesday. The NFLPA had announced in the fall of 2021 that Smith planned to depart after serving one more term with the union.

Howell has spent more than 34 years at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., most recently as chief financial officer and treasurer. He also led the company’s civil and commercial group.

Howell, who didn’t play in the NFL, believes his background at Booz Alen Hamilton should help him in his new role. He noted his “ability to bring teams together over the course of my career.”

“Not everyone is on the same page,” Howell said. “But building a consensus, prioritized list of priorities, galvanizing, motivating, keeping the team informed about progress, adjustments to what we were trying to do, I have a talent for doing that. And I think that’s why it resonated with the board and why I’m here today.”

Howell becomes the union’s fourth executive director. He follows Ed Garvey (1971-83), Gene Upshaw (1983-2008) and Smith (2009-present).

“You don’t need to be a former player to be able to motivate and galvanize a group of people,” NFLPA President JC Tretter said. “We were really looking for anybody that was capable of doing that, and we found a great one.”