“When we’re preparing for games, he’s not only able to watch film and see things coming, but he’s able to go to the coaches and say, ‘Why don’t we tweak this defense this way, because it better fits what they do?’ ” said Devin McCourty, who started alongside Gregory at safety in nine of the Patriots’ 16 regular-season games this season. “When we’re in meetings we’ll have something in the defense and we’re watching [film] and Steve will say, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ We’ll all sit there and look at him and be like, ‘You’re right, that probably would be better.’ I think that’s what makes him so good. “Steve always has something each week we play that he sees and things we can do. That’s why we call him a future head coach.”