Essential Jason McCourty info: His role with Dolphins, his rivalry with his brother
Defensive back Jason McCourty in Year 13 probably doesn’t have the get-up-and-go to play on the boundary.
And that’s fine.
The Dolphins, his fourth NFL team, almost assuredly won’t use him that way.
Instead, he’s probably a safety, which provides a new challenge for a guy who has seen most everything, and won on the highest level.
“Over the past three years [spent with the Patriots], I got a chance to line up at every position in the secondary,” McCourty said in his first media availability since signing a one-year contract with Miami. “For me, what’s more important than confidence with any position is building confidence in a defense.”
That shouldn’t be an issue. He left the New England Patriots and joined a team whose coach led the Patriots defense in 2018.
That was their lone year together, but Brian Flores left an impression.
And when McCourty, who seemingly will compete with rookie Javon Holland for the starting spot alongside Eric Rowe, hit free agency this spring, there was a relatively short list of familiar coaches he considered joining.
One was Joe Judge, who was an assistant in New England from 2012 to 2019 before taking the Giants’ top job. Another was Flores, who coached McCourty and his twin brother, Devin, in Massachusetts.
“He’s genuine,” Jason McCourty said. “ ... If you have a guy that’s honest and consistent, you can respect and give your all to play for him. It was a joy to play on his defense. I’m looking forward to getting to know him as a head coach and seeing how it all goes.”
McCourty speaks with a presence reflective of his experience. He’s a natural leader, and will provide a veteran element to a defense that needs it.
“I think he brings a lot to this team,” Flores said. “It’s about guys who we feel like fit this team, and those are the types of guys that we bring in. It’s not just former Patriots players but it’s guys from various other teams as well. So the guys who we feel like fit, we obviously do our due diligence trying to find out about the person as well as the player, and obviously Jason fits the bill as well as a lot of the other guys we brought in.”
McCourty realized a lifelong dream by winning a championship with his brother in 2018.
Now he’s preparing himself for an entirely different experience:
Facing his brother twice a year on separate sides of a rivalry between teams that spans more than five decades.
“Dev’s already talking trash to me about our Week 1 matchup.”
The family is on Team Jason in 2021, however. The weather’s a lot nicer in Miami Gardens and Foxborough, Massachusetts, in November, December and January.
Quick postscript:
McCourty sounds like a guy with a future in coaching.
And he might — but it won’t be on the NFL level unless things significantly change.
“I have young kids,” he said. “I would love to coach them one day. I don’t know if my wife will be on board with me staying at the facility until the early morning hours.”
“I can’t envision myself coaching at a high level right now.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 2:33 PM.
