Jason McCourty – September 6, 2021
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Monday, September 6, 2021
DB Jason McCourty
(Pretty big game this weekend. Are you excited to see DB Devin McCourty?) – “I would be more excited if I could see his kids but I won’t get a chance to see his kids. Him, eh, he’s alright. (laughter) I saw enough of him the last three years.”
(What are the stakes? Do you guys have any stakes for the winner of this matchup?) – “Nah, just a lot of trash talk. He talks a lot. That’s just him. A lot of trash talk that probably will just be continued by a lot of trash talk after the game. All in love and fun.”
(He’s the bigger talker of y’all?) – “In regards to this, yeah for sure. He has an arrogance just from his years of a lot of winning. He’s developed that. It will be a lot of fun on Sunday.”
(If you win, are you going to let him know about it or what?) – “We’ll have conversations but I’ll leave that more up to him. I’m just trying to focus on executing and going out there one play at a time and see where that leaves us on Sunday. For sure in the offseason, there will definitely be a lot of trash talk going on between us two. Hopefully we can get our kids into it too. They can start trash talking each other. (laughter)”
(Your thoughts on going against a rookie quarterback in his first NFL game on Sunday?) – “I think for the most part, whenever you are preparing for an opponent, you don’t really want to look at their experience. You want to watch the film and see what they’re telling you on film and as we have gotten a chance to watch Mac (Jones) throughout the preseason, he’s doing a lot of good things for them. Just the subtle things he does, the way he moves the defense when he’s looking off; getting them into the right play at the line of scrimmage. I won’t say in regards to a rookie quarterback this or that, I just think we have a tough opponent coming and obviously a divisional opponent we are going to visit for Week 1. With Mac Jones there, it’s going to be a tough game and you can see some of the things early on in his career that he is able to do that puts him in a good place on offense so we are really going to have to go up there and execute well.”
(Were you surprised when QB Mac Jones was named the starter?) – “I think there’s always surprises and things you don’t really know as you get to the end of training camp in the NFL in general. I would say I wasn’t expecting that, but it just goes to show what he’s been able to show in his time there and how he’s been able to execute, how well he’s been able to pick up the playbook and everything he’s shown them on the practice field to inside the building to make them feel comfortable with that decision. We’ve got to know whoever they put out there was the best guy for the job. That shows us we really have to go out there and prepare well to get ready for him.”
(Where do you think the emotions will be like for you?) – “I won’t say I’m used to it but I think having to switch teams before in my career, I’ve done it before. My first year in New England I went back to Nashville to play against the Titans. The second year in New England, I played against Cleveland. I’ve gotten a chance to go against former teams and I guess, what I’ve even told guys here, what I’ve learned is it’s another football game. I think sometimes as players, we get so involved and you get so riled up that you go out there and you psych yourself out of execution or you psych yourself out of a play. For me, you’re getting a chance to go. It’s a fun game because you know a lot of guys on the other side and it reminds you of growing up, playing football in your neighborhood where you’re going against all your friends and it’s more trash talk and it’s more competitive because you really want to beat those guys. For me, I look at Sunday like I’m to play a game in New England like I’ve done other times in my career. I just spent some time there this time. It should be exciting. I’m looking forward to it.”
(That being said, is there a player that you are looking forward to going against or tackling the most knowing that you know those guys well?) – “(laughter) Nah, I can’t say there’s any given person. I don’t think over my three years I don’t think I had any of those in-practice battles or heated arguments where you’re like finally getting to go against a certain guy. I wouldn’t say that. If I got a chance to go against my brother that would be a lot of fun but obviously that won’t happen because we shouldn’t be on the field together at the same time.”
(Not to beat the QB Mac Jones horse, but do you almost have to look at him as more than your average rookie given what you have to do to earn Bill Belichick’s trust?) – “I just think for us, there’s no film of him. I once had a coach say, ‘prepare for war in a time of peace.’ I think sometimes you look at it and you’re like, ‘Oh there’s a rookie quarterback, we’ll be alright,’ and you have no idea what this rookie quarterback is going to go out there and do Week 1 of the season. You better make sure you’re dotting all of your I’s, crossing all your T’s and disregard Bill Belichick. Just the fact that he’s a rookie quarterback and he’s stepping into the NFL, you know he’s prepared for the moment or he wouldn’t be out there. I think for us – especially when there was a veteran in front of him so you know he’s going to be prepared, he’s going to be ready to go and we have to make sure we are doing the same.”
(Bill Belichick is the most successful of the active coaches on opening weekend. What was your perspective when you were up there? Why is he so successful on opening weekend?) – “I have no idea. He scores more points than the teams he’s going against, I guess. (laughter) I don’t know. I have no clue why opening weekend or whatever. I guess for me, I just want to make sure this weekend he’s not successful on opening weekend.”
