McCourty Takes Blame For Beckham's Long Touchdown Against Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- Devin McCourty knew he messed up, and he knew it cost his team seven points on the scoreboard.
But McCourty, one of the Patriots' team captains, isn't one to shy away from taking the blame when it's his to claim. The New England safety took the blame for Odell Beckham's 87-yard touchdown on the Giants' second play from scrimmage on Sunday, making sure that one play doesn't stain an otherwise phenomenal performance by Patriots corner Malcolm Butler.
"I feel bad because Malcolm had a great game and, really, most of [Beckham's] yards came on that one play, which was fully my fault," McCourty told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand on Tuesday. "I think he did a great job. I just took a bad angle and didn't finish off the ball. Watching it again, I really could have. It was a bad play by myself early in the game, and Malcolm did a great job overcoming it with his great play."
After that one highlight for Beckham, Butler held him to just three catches for 17 yards on 11 targets the rest of the way. That goes to show that Butler has the right mind to become an elite corner, not letting one play dictate how the rest of his afternoon will go.
"He just keeps competing," McCourty said of Butler. "People are always going to tell you what you should do better, but he's done a good job focusing on what the team is asking him, going out there each week and competing his butt off. He takes a lot of reps in practice and works hard; he really tries to improve his game. In practice he's not just trying to get to the game on Sunday. He's executing at a high level in practice, and it's showing in games."
While many players may lose focus when the game gets a little chippy and physical, Butler seems to feed off of it.
"He loves that. He's a guy from a small school with a big chip on his shoulder. Once the game gets going and he's fully into it, he's in his own zone," said McCourty. "He's just focused on himself and going out there and stopping his guy."
As for New England's 9-0 start, McCourty said that isn't a big focus in the locker room.
"It has no overall baring on anything right now; 9-0 hasn't gotten us anything in this season so far," he said. "We all know, especially older guys, that each game gets more and more important as the team comes to an end. We still have division games left where we have to play well, starting Monday night against Buffalo."
