When Devin McCourty and his Patriots teammates watched film of the Bears heading into their Monday night matchup a year ago, they didn’t see quarterback Justin Fields run very much.
Then, in Foxboro, the Bears pulled off quite the upset, in a game that was supposed to be the take-off moment for Fields and the offense.
“In our game, it’s QB runs to start the game,” McCourty said this week. “He’s taking off. But I thought he was very decisive in our game. He did a good job. There were times we had guys we put in coverage just to follow him and be a spy, and I thought he did a good job continuing to look downfield and then moved our spies because as any player on defense started getting a little greedy, he’s sitting in the pocket, you think you know where he’s throwing and those guys move left a little bit or right. As soon as he saw that, he would just take off and make plays with his legs.”
McCourty, a 13-year veteran, two-time Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion, is now part of the NBC “Football Night in America” broadcast. On Sunday, he’ll be watching Bears rookie Tyson Bagent take on Justin Herbert and the Chargers.
In a conversation with The Athletic, McCourty offered his insight on both Bears quarterbacks, the matchup against the Chargers offense, and the things that separated his Patriots teams from the rest of the league.
