"Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." β Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. And, maybe, Bill Belichick to Devin McCourty the next time the two are in the same room.
The former Patriot turned commentator hasn't been shy about his criticism of his former organization, the direction they've been headed in, and the decisions they've made to get here. Wednesday, McCourty was at it again when speaking to the "Greg Hill Show" on WEEI.
Asked about how Mac Jones could go from a first-round rookie QB who led the Pats to a playoff spot to being benched four times in year three, including for good (likely) after a week 11 loss to the Giants, the future Patriot Hall of Famer pulled no punches, which has been true to form since he became a full-time media guy.
"I mean, to me, it's a no-brainer. Everybody in the organization raved about the guy's work ethic. How he's there early, he's there late," McCourty said. "So, to me, it's hard to just say, like, it's his fault. I have no problem if someone, in their opinion, says, 'Hey, I just don't think the guy's that good. Yeah, he had a good rookie year, but I don't think that he's the guy that everyone made him out to be.' I have no problem if that's your opinion.
"I don't think, no matter how you feel about him, I don't think you'd walk away from the situation and say, 'hey, you know, this situation that they built around him was really good, and he just didn't get the job done.' Like, to me, there's no way, if you're going to be factual, you got to look, there's just no way."
McCourty points to something that you've been hammered over the head with since Belichick decided it was a good idea to turn over the offense to a defensive coach (Matt Patricia) who had spent one year as an assistant offensive line coach back in 2005 and then tried to install some aspects of the Shanahan/McVay scheme without anyone who'd ever deployed it before. Genius.
"You have three different offensive coordinators in three years. They had different receivers, and I would say impact players kind of each year. All have been kind of moving parts," said McCourty. "Seemed like he kind of built a connection with Jakobi Meyers, then Jakobi's gone. So it would be hard for me to just say, 'Hey, like it's all him.' Like Kendrick Bourne, his rookie year goes out there and has a kind of a career year. Then, the next year, Kendrick Bourne doesn't really play at all. It's hard to say, 'Hey, it's all on Mac.'
"And again, I have no problem with the guys that watch and say, 'Hey, I evaluated this quarterback, his arm strength, his mobility. Like if you want to come up with all of those metrics that you think makes a quarterback good, and you think he doesn't hit those certain criteria that you like in a quarterback, I get that.
"But I think. overall, if you say, 'Hey, which side do you see more at fault?' To me, it's no doubt the organization, what's been put around him for these straight three years."
Jones has undoubtedly regressed, and his inability to handle adversity and his lack of physical gifts have compounded the issue. But as McCourty accurately points out, Mac's descent into unplayable goes far beyond the quarterback, so I asked Belichick postgame Sunday if they had failed Jones. Of course, I received a non-answer, but the proof has been laid out over and over and over again. This has been a systematic failure and should solidify the notion that Belichick and this staff, as currently constituted, should not be allowed to pick the next quarterback because, quite frankly, they can't be trusted to put that player in an environment that fosters development and, eventually, success.