Jason McCourty – October 20, 2021
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Wednesday, October 20, 2021
DB Jason McCourty
(I’ll ask you what I asked QB Tua Tagovailoa. How would you describe the mood of the locker room right now and how can you influence that as a leader?) – “I think guys are remaining positive and trying to continue to work towards getting to the goal that we have in mind. Obviously, that’s to win a football game. The last five weeks have been disappointing. I think what those guys alluded to, the work you put in Monday through Saturday, preparing for the game when you fall short on Sunday, it’s disappointing. It hurts but you have to turn the page and you have to move on. I feel like that’s what guys have done. We came in today focused, ready to work, ready to get the gameplan, had a walkthrough. Guys are out there communicating. Obviously in a walkthrough, you can get a lot more plays in, so it’s not moving as fast of a pace. But because of that, you can rep stuff a little bit faster. Guys are working and we know there is only one way to get a win – we’ve got to put the work in during the course of the week to be able to go out there and execute on Sunday.”
(What is your experience when you’re going through a bad streak? I know in Cleveland, you went through some tough times. What can you maybe take away from some of those experiences that might help you today?) – “Whatever we did in Cleveland, don’t repeat it because we continued to lose. (laughter) So I don’t really want to touch on that. But I don’t know, each team is different. I think like with what Tua (Tagovailoa) said, each level is different. I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to show up to work and you’ve got to be ready to work with a positive attitude. I think that’s not just football, that’s life. There’s going to be times where you go through adversity, where things don’t go your way. I’m sure most of you have children. There’s times you’re teaching them a lesson or maybe you don’t like your teacher or got a bad grade and how do you respond? I think for us as a team, it’s continuing to get up every day with a positive attitude. Making sure you’re watching the same if not more film this week to prepare for Atlanta than you did last week for Jacksonville. Making sure we’re not getting down on ourselves or looking for excuses but that we are continuing to put the work in and we’re continuing to move forward.”
(I know you know Head Coach Brian Flores well. How would you describe how he is approaching this particular situation?) – “Being himself. Just continuing to push guys, not lowering the expectations. You know for him, it’s consistency. You know each and every day you come in here, you know what you’re going to get. You know the attitude that he’s going to have. You can almost guess the things that he’s going to say and it’s going to remain the same of we’ve got to put the work in, we’ve got to execute. I think for us as a team, we’ve continued to work each and every week since I’ve been here. When we get to Sunday, we just have to make sure that we are executing and we are doing the things that we need to do to come out with a win. Those are those small details that sometimes get lost but that become the difference between winning and losing.”
(Your snap count has gone down the last couple of weeks. Have the coaches told you anything about what they want to see from you?) – “I think for me, it’s just you focus on whatever plays you do have. Obviously every single guy in that locker room would love to be out there every play of the game and we all feel like we can make an impact to help win. But the one thing I’ve learned throughout my course in the NFL is control what you can control. I think my defensive coordinator used to say that all the time my rookie year. Throughout my career, I had a DB coach that said, ‘Don’t count the plays, make the plays count.’ I’m trying to control what I can control and trying to make the plays count that I do have. Obviously, we all would like to be out there every single play. I think what Brandon (Jones) alluded to when he was talking – him, Jevon (Holland), those guys and some of our younger players are doing a good job and playing well. Although I haven’t been in as much, it’s been fun to see the evolution of Jevon from when he first got here to being out there, making plays, communicating well, the passion and emotion that he plays with, his ability to line guys up and just seeing the growth from him as a player. When you’re 34, you know if there’s a young guy behind you that’s behind you that’s a good player, at some point he’s going to get on the field. I’ve just tried to be super supportive of him and Brandon on the sideline looking at the (Microsoft) Surface if there’s things that I can help them with or reminders of yelling out on the field. I’ve just tried to do my best just to help the team get a win whether I’m out there for 90 percent of the plays or whether it’s 30 percent of the plays.”
(What does it say that even at 1-5, if the mood is still good and the want is still there, what does it say about the character of the room? The character you guys have inside the room.) – “I think what Tua (Tagovailoa) said when he talked about trust, I think there is trust amongst our locker room. I think guys trust that the other guys care. Obviously, you want guys to know what they’re doing and there’s going to be mistakes, there’s going to be some bad plays. But when you truly believe that the guys in the locker room and the guy lining up next to you, he cares about the team, he cares about winning, he’s out there and he’s doing everything he possibly can to get those things done, I think you can continue to build even when it is in a loss. Obviously, it’s a lot harder. We know this league is about production, it’s about wins and losses. When you come up short, it’s going to be disappointing, there’s going to be a lot of negativity that surrounds the team as it should be. We’re all paid to do a job and that job entails winning. I think for us as a team, guys, coaches and players alike, trust that we are doing everything in our nature to go out there and win on Sunday. We just have to continue to work. When we don’t get the results, we may have to change a thing here or there but continue the one thing that has to stay consistent, which is the work that’s put in.”
(With the top two cornerbacks down, was there a consideration to make a move and put you back at corner?) – “I guess I would go back to what I said before, control what you can control. If that’s what the coaches believe is the best thing for us to do in order to win on Sunday, then I quite possibly could be out there at corner. If they feel whoever is out there gives us the best chance to win, then that’s who’s going to be out there. Whatever the role is, just trying to do whatever I can.”
