Devin McCourty is one of the best players on the New England Patriots defense and has been for the entirety of his 12-year career in Foxboro.
McCourty, like any other person in any line of work, is going to have bad days at the office. It's just inevitable, even for elite athletes such as him.
During the latest episode of the "Double Coverage with The McCourty Twins" podcast, New England's veteran defensive back wasn't afraid to admit that his performance in last Sunday's Week 5 win over the Houston Texans was not up to his standard.
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“Sunday, I played terrible," McCourty admitted to his co-host and twin brother Jason. "Probably one of the top-five worst games that I’ve played since being on the Patriots. I’m not going to get mad -- like, you can’t. It is what it is.”
The comment was part of a larger conversation the McCourty twins were having about athletes dealing with the media, including handling criticism when they play poorly.
In regards to McCourty's honest assessment of his performance versus the Texans, he's right. And he was on the wrong end of a couple big plays for the Texans offense.
One of them came early in the second quarter when McCourty and cornerback J.C. Jackson failed to prevent Texans wide receiver Chris Moore from scoring a 67-yard touchdown.
McCourty was not the only member of the Patriots secondary who played poorly in Houston. Jackson and fellow cornerback Joejuan Williams also struggled. The entire unit, in fairness, was bad, evidenced by rookie quarterback Davis Mills throwing for 312 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Patriots will need a much-improved outing from their pass defense in Sunday's Week 6 game against a very good Dallas Cowboys offense led by star quarterback Dak Prescott. His 13 touchdown passes are tied for the third-most in the league.