Devin McCourty: Patriots QB Mac Jones would be ‘crazy’ to listen to critics who don’t understand how to play the position – masslive.com

FOXBOROUGH — Devin McCourty has a unique perspective on second seasons in the NFL.

As a rookie, McCourty was an All-Pro cornerback right out of the gate and deemed an immediate success. But a year later, he struggled at the position to the point that he was eventually moved to safety (where he once again rose to an All-Pro level in time). McCourty knows what the scrutiny can feel like when people expect a young Pro Bowler to get even better.

So now imagine it as a quarterback.

After making the Pro Bowl as a rookie and leading the Patriots back to the playoffs, there were lofty expectations for Mac Jones to take another leap forward. Through two games, the Patriots sit 1-1 and Jones’ stats aren’t at the level they were a year ago. But McCourty says the quarterback would be “crazy” to listen to critics who don’t really know what they’re looking at.

“I would say first and foremost: Overall, there’s not many people who watch football who understand how to play quarterback,” McCourty said. “So he would be crazy if he built his career off what people write and say about him because it’s just not — for one, there’s not many people who have played the position at a high level and can do that consistently.

“So I think no matter what in this league, you come out, you play as a rookie, you have success as a rookie, you go out there and you do good things: It sucks to say but everyone is waiting to write bad things about you. That’s just how everything works.”

McCourty said all of his coaches and teammates in Foxborough has faith in Jones, and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.

“I think he knows that in this building, every guy in that locker room believes in him,” McCourty said. “Everybody in that locker room sees him as not just our quarterback but a captain of this team, a leader of this team.”

As McCourty finished his media availability on Wednesday afternoon, Jones was standing in the corner of the room, waiting for his turn to go. So if Jones didn’t know that, he heard it from the podium this week.