Patriots Ex McCourty Criticizes Rookie Benching

New England Patriots rookie receiver Demario Douglas didn't play another snap versus the Miami Dolphins after his fumble.

The New England Patriots' loss to the Miami Dolphins felt like a repeat of their season-opening defeat they suffered at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. After a slow first half offensively, where a Patriots turnover allowed the Dolphins to take an early 10-0 lead, they needed a big second half. 

Week 1 saw veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott and Mac Jones involved in turnovers, as a pass from the quarterback bounced off Kendrick Bourne's hands and into Darius Slay's grasp for a Pick 6. This time, rookie receiver Demario Douglas turned the ball over early. 

As the Patriots were in the midst of a promising second drive, Jones found his rookie receiver for what would've been a first down if not for the pursuit of Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb, who punched the ball free.

Bradley Chubb forces the fumble! pic.twitter.com/1dcAf3J9lt

— Dolphin Nation (@Dolphin_Nation) September 18, 2023

That fumble turned out to be the last snap Douglas took in the loss, which has quickly garnered the Patriots coaching staff criticism. 

“I didn’t like it,” former Patriots safety Devin McCourty said recently on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” about Douglas's benching. “I don’t think [the players are] gonna take the mindset of like, ‘This is terrible’, because it’s one game, it’s Week 2. But I think they would’ve wished to see him in there. I remember [Rutgers] Coach [Greg] Schiano used to say that to us, ‘A player messes up, I’m not gonna punish that player to hurt the team,’ because then that’s unfair to the rest of the guys. 

“But you might find a different way to show a lesson. … For that offense, Pop Douglas, there’s nobody else on the offense like him. … He has to play. And not just show up a little bit — he needs to be out there a lot. Because you need guys that put some fear in the defense of, ‘Man, when this guy has the ball in his hands, we got to gang tackle, we got to surround him.'"

To the credit of the now-retired safety, without Tyquan Thornton healthy, Douglas is supposed to be the explosive outlet for the Patriots' offense. So far, Bill O'Brien's new system has called for a heavy dosage of run-pass options and other quick-passing game concepts that naturally allow Douglas to create in space with his speed and shiftiness.

The New England offense so far under Bill O'Brien has moved the ball at a high level, as they are tied for the most drives that end on the opponent's side of the 50-yard-line. However, the problem is they've scored on 37 percent of those drives, which is the second-lowest rate in the league.

A big part of this struggle can be blamed on an inability to run the football effectively and a lack of explosive plays. While it isn't uncommon for the Patriots to sit a young player after a costly turnover, as they did Stevenson's during his rookie year following a fumble against the Dolphins, they can ill afford to have the former Liberty product watch from the sidelines.