Devin McCourty on 2022 Patriots: 'Never True Hope'

Newly retired New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty reveals locker-room divide over Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.

Tumultuous seems the best way to describe the New England Patriots offense under then-offensive coordinator Matt Patricia last season.

A once-promising quarterback in Mac Jones and the offense as a whole around him regressed without the guidance of Josh McDaniels. The inconsistencies offensively that plagued the Patriots' season even had those inside the locker room split between who should be their starting quarterback, according to the recently retired Devin McCourty.

"I don't think [Mac] should be subjected to as much displeasure and scrutiny as he gets," McCourty said in an interview with WEEI. "We sat here his rookie year and said, 'Hey, I'm with this! I like this new era.' We go to the playoffs and it's like 'Here we go!' Then what happened this year from an offensive situation coaching-staff-wise. …He needs to have some consistency [around him]."

The split amongst the coaching staff on Jones vs. rookie Bailey Zappe, according to McCourty, began to also split the locker room.

"I think player-wise there was enough trust that we're going to put the best guy out there," he said. "But the struggles on offense, I think there were some guys in the locker room that were like 'Let's go with Zappe.' Or' No, Mac looked good today.' It was a back and forth, which to me, spoke more about what we had on offense than the quarterback.

"We never were solidified as an offensive group that guys had full confidence in anything we were doing. There was never true hope.”

Zappe, the rookie out of Western Kentucky, was thrust into action last season as injuries to Jones and Brian Hoyer forced him into the spotlight. Despite being thrown into the starting role, he went 2-0 record as a starter with a passer rating over 100 in each of his games. 

But following the 33-14 loss to the Chicago Bears, where the Patriots confusingly benched Jones in favor of Zappe as part of a dual quarterback system, it was his last appearance of the season after tossing two interceptions.

Despite opting to ride out the season with Jones, and the eventual ousting of Patricia as the play-caller in favor of the returning Bill O'Brien, rumors persist that the Patriots aren't particularly sold on Jones, some even suggesting that they'd be willing to trade the former first-round pick away. 

While other rumors suggest that there is a belief among the staff that there isn't a "massive gap" in terms of development between Jones and Zappe.

If that belief is true, it would beg the question of who is that an indictment of, Jones or the coaching staff? 

Judging by McCourty's answer, he believes it would be an indictment on the offensive coaching staff. 

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