"When you're an off corner for a whole year, now your eyes want to look at the quarterback," Gray said. "You have to watch the [receiver]. Now you have to reprogram him to do that. Then you have to teach him the press technique and now you got to get confidence in pressing and I have to cover the guy, too. All those things are happening."
When Zimmer was hired, Rhodes went to watch tape of Cincinnati Bengals defensive backs to get a feel for what he'd be asked to do. That was just the first step in a seemingly arduous process for an inexperienced player to mold into Zimmer's experienced scheme.
The goal, in Zimmer's words, is to "slow the game down quite a bit" for cornerbacks: "When they do get it, then the game becomes really simple for them. At least the way we do it. It's one of the hardest jobs there is, with what we ask them to do. But it's simple, once you understand the game."
Without revealing exactly what it is he's being asked to do with jam techniques, footwork and different coverages, Rhodes provided a succinct review of his transition from Frazier's defense to Zimmer's.
"It was real difficult, nobody could get it down in the first couple of weeks," Rhodes said. "You have to be patient."
Eight weeks into the season, Rhodes' penalties (8) outweigh his pass deflections (7) as he's still searching for the right physical balance as well as his first career interception.
"Eventually you get over the DPIs [defensive pass interferences] and he has the skills to make plays on the ball," Gray said. "That's the thing we have to get him to understand, that last part, is probably the most important part: don't be so aggressive at the top of the play."
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
Call me a homer, but the refs watch Rhodes for even the slightest of mistakes, And yet he can be held and pushed, right in front of the ref, and theres no call. Regardless, he has turned into a good CB. We need another hard hitting safety beside Smith, and the CBs will automatically look even better.
PurpleKoolaid wrote:Call me a homer, but the refs watch Rhodes for even the slightest of mistakes, And yet he can be held and pushed, right in front of the ref, and theres no call. Regardless, he has turned into a good CB. We need another hard hitting safety beside Smith, and the CBs will automatically look even better.
That's just the way the game is called. I will take some PI call and some roughing calls so long as guys are playing hard and competing. There is hardly any alternative with the way the game is called these days other than rolling over and dying.
