theogt;2067580 said:
It's not a direct quote, actually. He was referencing a specific situation -- when you get lined up one on one (basically manned up) with a receiver. He said when you don't have help from a linebacker or another safety it's tough to cover, because you can guess wrong which direction their route is going. In those situations, he said it's tough and "sometimes you just hope they don't throw in your direction." He then said that is why "corners get paid the big bucks."
It makes perfect sense. He's not a corner. And if he's manned up on a receiver he won't be as good as a cover corner.
The quote above is a complete out of context quote. Ridiculous what people hear when a person talks. They only hear what they want to hear to support their view.
And I thought he was just being honest about the situation. I think these player really talk candidly with Irvin and I enjoy his interviews.
Roy went on to explain that as a safety, there are certian things the common fan doesn't understand about playing his position.
..that you have a 50/50 chance of being wrong each time that the TE or receiver will cut one way or the other and you can't really cover both options as a safety and you will be guessing wrong half the time and you hope they don't throw the ball your way when you guess wrong.
I think he was also trying to say in the schemes he's asked to play, you have to play the scheme and you can't freelance in coverages and you have to play it a certain way and sometimes, there isn't much you can do.
This was really what he was saying. Completely honest if you ask me.
And when he made the comment about the corners getting the big bucks..he was infering that they are better equipt to deal with handling making the better choice or being able to recover IF they make the wrong decision on the WR as to their coverage.
Which makes sense, since they are further up field and the receiver is always in front of them and they can be looking into the offensive backfield during coverage to make decisions on how to play the WR..inside or outside or close or loose.
I was surprised that he tied his comments about his lack of big hits on his religion. But if you think about it, I can understand it. He hurt Emmitt Smith one time and nearly put him out for the season when Emmitt was playing with the Cards. No matter how you frame that, I didn't like what happened there and I clearly remember RW being very apologetic about it several times.
Then he also injured TO when he was an Iggle with his horsecollar and then did it again with McNabb the next season.
This might be grinding on him from a personal standpoint and he sought answers about it thru his religious beliefs. I think we forget he's a person, not a cold-blooded hired assassin.
Maybe he is concerned that he could permanently injure a player with his aggressiveness and he doesn't want that burden.
I could completely understand that. When he's playing 100%, he's a tough hombre other players don't want to be in his crosshairs.
And maybe he is unhappy with his recent reputation as a dirty player the media and league have tried to paint him as recently and he's just curbed his aggressiveness altogether for all of the above.
This could merely be a phase he has to go thru with his play and reputation and has to balance the two.
I've always like Roy Williams and he's a rock for this defense. All his teammates have always supported him and have never pointed a finger at his play as a problem even when many wanted to do it. And on occassion, RW has pointed a finger at some other players as also being responsible for maybe playing better or doing a better job in their roles.
That maybe RW's way of being a vet and leading. I can make comments about other players if you are doing the best you can and others may not be. The common fan really wouldn't know this. But for some, RW speaking up becomes excuse making and scapegoating.
Whatever. RW probably feels he can't win no matter what he does..so now he just doesn't talk about it at all.
So let's see what happens from here out. I think we'll see a better player this year with Campo to handle some mental baggage and do some coverage changes with RW as the season goes on.
Frankly, I thought the defensive secondary did a poor job of making any defensive changes in the secondary as the season wore on.
As a result, the same sort of things broke down from game to game.
Part of that was the injuries to the starting CBs and having to play Reeves all year. That had to place a bunch more pressure on RW to just play the scheme and be in position to cover for the weaker coverages they had to use with Reeves.
RW should be able to take more risks and be more himself using his instincts to make big plays when everybody is healthy again.
We'll see.
:starspin ReDBaLL ExPreSS:starspin
