The 2024 NFL season was never going to be an easy one for the New England Patriots.

For starters, they just don't have a ton of top-tier talent, and that puts them at a severe disadvantage right off the bat. Outside of Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez and Christian Barmore, there aren't many franchise cornerstone players on the roster.

The Patriots also have transitioned to a brand new era post-Bill Belichick. They have a first-year head coach in Jerod Mayo, a new offensive coordinator in Alex Van Pelt, a first-time defensive coordinator in DeMarcus Covington, plus first-year offensive line and wide receivers coaches.

Adjusting to all of the roster and coaching turnover takes time. It's also important for the players to be on the same page and not cause distractions.

🔊 Patriots Talk podcast: Jason McCourty urges Pats players to "shut the hell up" if they like Jerod Mayo | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

Rookie wideout Ja'Lynn Polk told MassLive a few weeks ago that he has the "best hands" of any player at his position. He has one reception (plus several drops) in three games since making those comments. Veteran wideout K.J. Osborn shared text messages on Twitter/X about the buildup to the Week 7 game in London.

What does former Patriots safety and Super Bowl Jason McCourty think of all of this? The CSB Sports analyst joined Tom E. Curran on a new episode of NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Talk Podcast to discuss these topics and more.

"I was in other cities before I got to New England, so it's a little bit of -- you've just seen, for a lot of people now, success for the last two decades and that's the expectation, which it should be," McCourty said. "You should expect your favorite team or your organization to win, but it's not that easy. And I think to your point, those are some of the things that you have to nip in the bud, like wide receivers talking in the media.

"You have Polk saying in public saying he has the best hands in the league, and then you're not making tough contested catches. You have veterans like (K.J.) Osborn posting screenshots of text messages. Stuff like that, you just can't have.

"I would urge players, if you like your head coach, and you like the direction your team is going, shut the hell up in the media. Go out there on a Sunday and make plays and ball, and leave all the rest of the stuff to be determined by the front office, coaches and all of that to handle it.

"Because that was my thing. When you're on teams that aren't winning, everybody's looking for any fracture or any crack within the organization to sow dissension or a coach that doesn't have control over a locker room or anything like that. So that, from the outside looking in, that's bothered me, of being around the team in the preseason and seeing the energy and the love that everybody had for the new way that everything was rolling, and then you see things like that happen, just, like, well, that's not adding up.

"You're so used to having success and expectation when you hear New England Patriots, that when it's not going your way, sometimes people don't know how to react in adversity because you haven't had to deal with it. But you had to assume that it wasn't going to be smooth sailing of a season."

The Patriots are 2-7 and sit at the bottom of the league standings entering their Week 10 road matchup against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. If there's one positive to the 2024 season for the Patriots right now, it's the fact that they likely will end up with another top-three draft pick. In fact, they currently own the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.

There are other ways for the Patriots' season to be a success.

One is to continue the positive development of rookie quarterback Drake Maye. The No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft has played really well over his first four starts, which is a very encouraging sign for the franchise. Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux even called Maye "Josh Allen 2.0" after last week's loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The Patriots don't have to win a ton of games to build positive momentum for future seasons. But they do need to operate like a competent organization and determine which players will play key roles in the team's near-term success.

Also in this episode:

• What would Jason tell Jerod Mayo about coaching a team that isn’t competing for a playoff spot?
• How hard is it as a player to keep your focus when your team isn’t playing well and is out of the playoff hunt early?
• Is resetting following Bill Belichick going to be harder than the team expected?
• Jason shares his thoughts on Drake Maye so far in his rookie season.
• Is Jason surprised all three of the top rookie QBs look like they can play? Did the Patriots get the best QB for them in Maye?