Jason McCourty – October 6, 2021
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Wednesday, October 6, 2021
DB Jason McCourty
(How did QB Tom Brady make you better?) – “I would say just competing against him every day. That guy is the definition of greatness. The preparation he puts in, the excellence he approaches the game with, his ability to go out there and get things right the first time around. When you compete against that, you have to bring your A-game every day. The intensity that he brings to work, whether that’s in meeting rooms or that’s at practice – it’s Tom Brady. When you go up against him, you know if you don’t deliver your best, he’s going to embarrass you.”
(This morning I asked Head Coach Brian Flores, how hard it is to confuse QB Tom Brady. He was like you can’t. You can’t confuse Tom Brady. When you go out there, you can obviously do your best, right? Can you explain that preparation for me when you’re going up against him?) – “He’s seen two decades of defenses. I remember I got a chance to play for Dick LeBeau in Tennessee and he was standing in front of the room and we talked about fire zones, and he would say, ‘Well when I first created this defense,’ or he’d say, ‘I’ve played against or I’ve watched every single play that’s every single play that has ever come across the NFL.’ Obviously, Tom is not to that point yet. (laughter) But a guy that has seen that much football, it is very hard to confuse him. It’s up to us as a defense to not make it easy on him, give him different looks and do things that you possibly can make him uncomfortable. That’s what we are going to prepare to do all week and when we get out there on Sunday, we have to execute it.”
(Historically the Dolphins have 27 interceptions against QB Tom Brady, the most by any NFL team. You’ve been around him. Is it more anticipating what he could do or is a mistake that he could commit to come up with that pick?) – “He’s human, so there’s going to be times where you may get a chance to make a play. When you’ve reached his level of success, it just doesn’t happen often. It’s up to you as a defense that if those opportunities do present themselves, you have to take advantage of them. Whether that’s just making a play and making a good decision but you just going out there and outfighting somebody for the ball to come down with it. Maybe you confuse him on a certain play and you were able to get him. It’s a football game, so you still have to go out there and play on Sunday. We don’t want to go into the game thinking it’s going to be impossible to make a play against this guy. We have to go out there and execute well and when our plays and our opportunities happen, we have to take advantage of them.”
(Did you work at all at corner today or are you still at safety?) – “Do you guys get to watch practice?”
(The first 10 minutes.) – “Then I don’t know. (laughter)”
(If you had to play corner again, obviously you’ve done it all your life, it must be like putting on a shoe. Is there any adjustment just because you’ve been at safety entirely the last six weeks?) – “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anybody compare playing cornerback in the NFL to putting on a shoe. (laughter).”
(It would be a lot harder for me, but you’re a natural at it.) – “Definitely an adjustment. You guys, you’ve watched and you’ve studied this game for a long time. What a cornerback has to do versus what a safety has to do is drastically different. The play in and play out ability to match somebody at the line of scrimmage, run with them down the field and make a play on the ball versus being able to stand back there and survey the whole field, communication, are two totally different positions. Definitely if somebody has to move from corner to safety or safety to corner, or any position, if you’re moving from guard to tackle, if you’re moving to a different position, it is always going to be an adjustment and a different set of thinking that goes into the position.”
(What might you tell a youngster, especially a rookie, like S Jevon Holland about the mindset approach, pregame and in-game, that he might want to keep in mind when facing a legend, an icon, and someone he’s seen on TV?) – “Don’t make the moment bigger than what it is. At the end of the day, it’s still a football game. Jevon is a guy asking questions during the week, during the game, on the sideline and he already has the right approach to the game. He’s had the right approach for the past four weeks and I would tell him to continue to prepare and do the things he’s been doing since the start of the season. You go against Tom, maybe you want to prepare a little harder. I’m not going to tell you not to do that. But just continue to approach the game the same way he has. Work on your disguises, work on different things, watch film and just prepare the same way. Don’t make the moment any bigger than what it is. It’s a football game and we want to go out there and execute to win.”
(Talking about the young players, what have you told the guys in the locker room about this game? As media, we can think that guys are more motivated to play against QB Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champions and all of that. What do you say to them?) – “I don’t even think for us as a team right now, and as an organization, that it’s a focus on Tampa Bay or Tom Brady. We’ve just lost three straight games. I think regardless of who’s on our schedule for this week, it’s very important that we have a sense of urgency to go out there and get a win on Sunday because we have been on the wrong side of the score for the past three weeks. That’s not a good feeling and we know in this league, it’s about production and it’s about wins and losses. Just for us as a team and as an organization, we want to do everything we possibly can, regardless who’s on the side of the field, to make sure that we come out of Sunday with a victory.”
