It’s probably a sign that your cornerbacks had a pretty good day when AP Photo has no pictures of them, and only three pictures total of the opposing team’s top two wideouts. And Carlos Rogers and DeAngelo Hall had a very good day indeed, combining to hold DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin to four catches for 34 yards. (On the other hand, that’s why this post is headlined with a picture of Rogers watching his wife play in a charity basketball game on Saturday.)
But it would be a sign of an even better game for the defensive backs if there was a sequence of pictures of Rogers pulling down an interception on the first play of the Eagles’ final drive, then streaking down the field and sliding to clinch the win and avoid getting Nate Clements-ed. Those pictures don’t exist, though, because that fourth-quarter throw bounced off of Rogers’ hands and the Eagles were able to keep driving right down to the final gun.
This is not the first time that Rogers has had an interception bounce off his hands. It’s probably not the tenth. This has become part of the general perception of Rogers’ game, and Rogers, for one, is getting sick of it.
“It’s frustrating, man,” Rogers said in the locker room yesterday. “I was in front sorta jamming [Jackson], actually about to run down the field, and I see the ball. I just tried to stick my hands out and get it, but, you know.”
Yep. We know. And so does he. It’s particularly frustrating because Rogers is — in almost every other respect — a top-notch cover corner. And he knows that, too. “Every week, you know, me and my coach been talking about it,” Rogers said. “I always put myself in the position to make a play or make the interception. So each week I’m just gonna continue to work, continue to catch and, you know, I’m gonna make it.”
Rogers handles it well, of course — selective forgetfulness is one of the most valuable traits a cornerback can have. “There’s more time left in the game,” Rogers explained, “so I can’t be sitting there getting mad and putting that in my head. It’s like me getting beat for a touchdown: I can’t sit there and dwell on it.”
Not during the game. But after the game … then he thinks about it, and his teammates like to help that process along. As London Fletcher helpfully illustrated by busting in on Rogers mid-sentence and shouting “Los, just get that interception!” The rest of his imploring speech didn’t come through on my recording, but Brian Murphy of Homer McFanboy was nearby and he quoted Fletcher as adding “My heart needs a break.”
In a winning postgame locker room, Rogers could just smile and shake his head and say, “I’m sitting here thinking about it right now, and then I gotta hear guys like this keep talking.”
But it’s also clear that he knows it won’t always end up that way. “Those are plays I got to make in the game so it won’t be so dramatic,” he said. “I hope I can keep having opportunities to end the game.”
And, hopefully, he’ll also start seizing those opportunities — figuratively AND literally.
(To be fair, ace team photog Ned Dishman did get a few shots of Rogers like the one below, but the basketball game pic provided a more amusing illustration of my point.)
