FOXBORO — So much for easing into NFL life.

Through three games, Patriots rookie cornerback Devin McCourty has been asked to covered Cincinnati’s Terrell Owens, New York’s Jerricho Cotchery and Buffalo’s Lee Evans. Heady stuff for any corner, let alone a rookie, but the Rutgers product has acquitted himself nicely. According to the coaches’ tape, has 14 tackles (tied for fifth place on the team) and a pass defensed.

While there have been the usual growing pains, McCourty’s overall steadiness and consistency have earned him the trust of the coaching staff, which has had him on the field for every defensive snap through the first three games of the regular season.

“Devin is working hard. He’s a tough kid,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “He really studies the material and tries to play the technique, tries to play the defense just the way you want it played. There are still a lot of things that he or any rookie would need to learn or get experience on, but he’s a quick learner.

“He’s got good instincts. He tackles well. He’s tough and he runs well, so he’s got a lot of things going for him. He’s doing a good job. There’s still a lot to learn and a long way to go.”

When he was taken, McCourty had his critics (including this reporter) who wondered why New England wasn’t going after a pass rusher. At the start of training camp, it was thought that McCourty could make an impact on special teams (he was one of the best returners in the country as a senior), but it was questionable how much action he would see on defense as a rookie. But a good training camp and preseason, as well as an injury to No. 1 corner Leigh Bodden helped him take a leap up the depth chart.

Now, through three games, McCourty has become a key part to the secondary, and his agent is enjoying the last laugh. There’s a comfort level that has settled in for McCourty, but he’s not getting relaxed quite yet.

“I don’t know if this is where I want to be. I’m trying to get better each day. Just taking it one day at a time and trying to learn from all the older guys,” McCourty said. “I realized as soon as I got here it doesn’t matter — as a rookie or as a veteran — there are certain expectations you have to live up to.”

One of the things that has distinguished the 5-foot-10, 193-pound McCourty is a willingness to get physical with receivers. In recent years, the Patriots have gone after mostly undersized corners who either don’t have the size or the desire to try and body up with opposing pass catchers. But McCourty is different breed, a New England corner who is willing to jam wide receivers off the line, push them around once they do get off the line and lay a big hit on them once they have the ball in space.

His jam of Atlanta wide receiver Roddy White in a preseason game was a clear indicator that McCourty was more than willing to get physical with veteran receivers. In the season-opener against the Bengals — the first defensive play from scrimmage of the season — the Bengals tested McCourty, and he was able to knock the ball away from Owens. Later in the same game, he delivered a punishing hit on Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer, sending him flying out of bounds. In the end, according to Pro Football Focus, he was targeted eight times, broke up two of them and only allowed 45 yards.

PFF also gave him an excellent grade for his performance against the Jets. He was thrown at seven times — one more than Darius Butler (not including penalties) — and allowed just 29 yards on five catches. And on Sunday against the Bills, he yielded a touchdown, but got off a nice hit on running back Marshawn Lynch, and had a nice open field tackle on Evans with just under two minutes left in the first half.

He’ll be asked to be physical again Monday night against Miami’s Brandon Marshall, one of the more physical wide receivers in the game.

“Yeah, I try and match up and be physical with receivers, especially with him. If you’re not physical, he’ll just dominate you,” McCourty said. “Hopefully, my physical abilities will help me.”

While McCourty has played well through his first three games, the New England defense has had its share of problems. The Patriots have allowed 24, 28 and 30 points this season, and much of that has come at the expense of the secondary — the youngest in the league. It’s a slump that cost fellow corner Butler his starting job last week against the Bills.

McCourty acknowledged Thursday he had heard the critics.

“Yeah, it’s out there,” he said of the barbs that have been directed at the New England defense. “But I think as an athlete and as a professional, you’ve got to take your job seriously and go about changing it yourself, not just for the media and the fans.

“Each week, you’ve got to get better. As a defense, we look at what we do wrong and we worry about ourselves. We try not to look at the media and all that stuff. So when we come out and we don’t think we played as good as our expectations, we take that as a disappointment and try and focus on getting better the next week.”

If McCourty can maintain his starting streak, he’ll move into some pretty elite company: Since Belichick took over the Patriots in 2000, Logan Mankins has been the only rookie who has started all 16 games as a first-year player. But McCourty won’t allow himself to get caught up in that possibility. Instead, he maintains a day-to-day focus, content to simply do his part.

“It’s a challenge [but] I’m having fun doing it and just trying to really learn,” McCourty said. “Having a coach like coach Belichick and some of these older veterans helping me out, it hasn’t been overwhelming so far.”