McCourty stresses execution
FOXBORO — Safety Devin McCourty majored in sociology at Rutgers but is the master of communications with the Patriots.
McCourty addressed the need for greater communication between the three layers of the Patriots defense yesterday as the team prepared to face the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
“Film-wise I always kind of watch the offense overall,” said McCourty. “To me, when you play in the middle of the field and you play safety you have to do so much communicating and you kind of have to watch the whole offense.
“You can’t just pick a guy or just pass plays. You gotta kind of be in tune with everything because a lot of communication falls on myself.”
Communication breakdowns were the obvious contributing factor in the Pats’ Week 4 loss to Carolina.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton enjoyed his finest outing of the season by completing 22-of-29 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns.
McCourty feels confident the Patriots have become better at communicating and executing since the Carolina debacle.
“I think we have gotten better at it and I’ve also said all our mistakes weren’t just communication,” said McCourty. “Some of it was just executing where we all knew what we were supposed to do, it was well communicated, but we all didn’t do our jobs.
“I think that has gotten better with all of us being on the same page. But every player individually going out there and executing . . . that is how we are going to be a good football (team) going forward, everybody being on the same page and we know we’ve got the guys to do it.”
Despite McCourty’s optimistic outlook for the defense going into the Jets game, the statistics tell a more pessimistic tale. The Patriots are last in the NFL in total defense (447.2), passing defense (323.0) and 24th in rushing defense (124.2).
The Pats were in the neighborhood of their league averages in a 19-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. The Bucs rolled up 409 yards of total offense while quarterback Jameis Winston completed 26-of-46 passes for 334 yards and a touchdown.
“Now we are all so comfortable playing with each other it is easy for us to interchange roles as a defense,” said McCourty. “We just have to do it consistently week in and week out.”
McCourty leads the Patriots with 41 tackles and finished with a season-high 11 against Tampa Bay. He also has one special teams tackle.
“I’m like everybody else in the locker room as you prepare to be out there and prepare for the season in whatever role,” said McCourty. “This year I’ve been in roles and I’ve been down in the box a little bit more and able to be around the ball.”