CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
Postgame vs. Detroit – December 18, 2016
Q: Has it surprised you that there are so many good things happening on defense?
A: It is not necessarily surprising. I think that our mindset is to just always play relentless ball. Play as hard as we can, for as long as we can. That has been the motto around here and I think that we have to keep going out and keep fighting.
Q: What happened on the play where you got beat?
A: I tried to jump some and I came out of my zone. I was being undisciplined and that is a thing that I have to work on. That play should have never happened, but I just kept fighting and made sure that I caught him before he got the touchdown.
Q: So that play was on you?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: How tough was it seeing Jackrabbit go down?
A: That hurt, man. I was on the field like, ‘No, don’t do that. Don’t do that.’ I thought it was just a little wind or something that got knocked out of him, but to see him go down and what he means to this secondary, it gave us the mentality that we have to go out and play that much harder because it is going to be tough without our brother.
Q: Can you talk about the turnaround of the defense this year?
A: Nothing has surprised me because I know the guys that were brought in. They brought in some playmakers, guys that are known to make plays, and anytime you come in Spags’ defense, you hop on a lot of things and, for the most part, we just go out there and execute.
Q: You were part of it in Philly, when they brought in a lot of new faces and it didn’t work. What is different here?
A: We gel better, as far as everybody coming together, hanging on and off the field and being accountable and it is just a loving atmosphere and anytime you can truly feel like your brother has your back, it makes you want to play that much better for him.
Q: The way the formula seems to be is that the defense plays well every week and the offense makes two or three big plays. How far can that formula take you?
A: At some point, you know what our offense can do. The weapons that they have, it is going to click when it needs to click. Right now, they are doing just enough for us to win and we are going out there and holding on, so it is still a team game. But what we do know is that if we get stops and get them the ball, good things will happen.
A: I tried to jump some and I came out of my zone. I was being undisciplined and that is a thing that I have to work on. That play should have never happened, but I just kept fighting and made sure that I caught him before he got the touchdown.
Q: So that play was on you?
A: Yes, sir