Former Patriots Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison weren’t followers of this Invoice Belichick determination vs. Dolphins

It ought to come as little shock {that a} rookie like Douglas probably landed in Belichick’s doghouse after committing a turnover. However given Douglas’ explosive skillset and New England’s inconsistencies with stringing collectively sustained drives, taking him out of the sport plan felt like a severe second guess.

Rely ex-Patriots Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison amongst those that didn’t approve of Belichick’s determination to part Douglas out of the playbook as Sunday’s recreation carried on.

“I didn’t prefer it,” McCourty mentioned throughout his look on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Present” on Wednesday morning. “I believe gamers, I don’t suppose they’re gonna take the mindset of like, ‘That is horrible’, as a result of it’s one recreation, it’s Week 2. However I believe they might’ve wished to see him in there. I keep in mind [Rutgers] Coach [Greg] Schiano used to say that to us, ‘A participant messes up, I’m not gonna punish that participant to harm the workforce,’ as a result of then that’s unfair to the remainder of the fellows. 

“However you would possibly discover a totally different strategy to present a lesson. … For that offense, Pop Douglas, there’s no person else on the offense like him. … He has to play. And never simply present up a little bit bit — he must be on the market rather a lot. Since you want guys that put some concern within the protection of, ‘Man, when this man has the ball in his fingers we obtained to gang deal with, we obtained to encompass him.’

“You want that on the market on offense as a result of it adjustments the way in which a few of these guys are gonna play defensively. And when Pop Douglas isn’t on the market, they actually don’t have that man. They’ve good soccer gamers, however they don’t have guys which have a special stage of explosion and velocity.”

Very similar to McCourty, Harrison believed that Belichick and New England’s teaching workers ought to have let Douglas atone for his miscue by taking part in by way of it, particularly given his evident expertise.

“I didn’t agree with Coach Belichick when he took the child out as a result of the child — he’s attempting his greatest,” Harrison advised MassLive.com’s Karen Guregian on a latest episode of the “Eye On Foxborough” podcast. “He’s making strikes. And it’s not like he wasn’t attempting to guard the soccer. He was attempting to make performs. You don’t count on the 270-pound man — 6-foot-4 — coming that’s gonna swipe the ball. When Ezekiel Elliott fumbled final week, I didn’t see him getting taken out the sport. And it is a veteran participant, a man that has carried the ball hundreds of instances, established participant on this league after which a rookie does it. 

“He takes them out and you may actually hamper a child’s confidence, particularly (somebody), who I consider goes to be a really dynamic playmaker for the Patriots. I simply didn’t agree with him taking him out. I’m not the coach. However in that state of affairs, if I’m teaching I don’t take him out. I let him stand. I proceed to feed him the ball and attempt to construct up his confidence as a result of he’s gonna be participant. I imply, what does that do? Aside from mess along with his confidence?”

Contemplating the stakes concerned with what’s trying increasingly more like a must-win recreation for the Patriots in Week 3 towards the Jets, Belichick and Co. might need to roll with a brief reminiscence and incorporate Douglas again into their recreation plan on Sunday afternoon.

As a lot because the Patriots’ would possibly wish to ship a stern message about ball safety to Douglas and different rookies, that directive goes to ring hole if his lack of taking part in time performs right into a catastrophic 0-3 begin.