CRO RIPS SHERMAN
Jet corner says Seattle counterpart doesn’t face same challenges as other DBs
ANTONIO CROMARTIE is still waiting to be impressed by Richard Sherman.
The Jets cornerback ripped his Seahawks counterpart on Tuesday, saying Sherman doesn’t face the challenges that other elite cornerbacks in the league do.
“I would tell him, ‘Go play in a defense where you don’t have two all-pro safeties,’ ” Cromartie said on SiriusXM Radio. “Go follow the No. 1 receiver. Follow him around for a whole entire game, let’s see what you can do.
“Darrelle Revis has done that his whole career. I’ve done that. Patrick Peterson has done it. Joe Haden has done it. He’s the only defensive back that hasn’t,” Cromartie added. “You want to label yourself as the No. 1 corner, the best corner in the NFL, follow the best guy on every single team.”
Sherman typically stays on one side of the field, rather than following the top opposing wideout. “His whole thing would be, ‘Well we don’t have to do that. I’ve got my trust in the other corner on the other side.’ That’s not the point,” Cromartie said. “If you want to consider yourself the best, the best do what the best do. They follow around the best.”
Cromartie later added on NFL Network: “Do I believe he’s a product of the system? I’ve said it before: I believe he is.”
Cromartie said Revis is the best cornerback in the league. Sherman has previously proclaimed himself to be the league’s top corner. In 2013, Sherman and Revis sparred on Twitter in a debate over who was better.
No pressure, Geno
Cromartie was participating in the NFL’s Broadcast Boot Camp at NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J., and speaking alongside teammate Willie Colon, who had his own noteworthy comments on the Jets. Colon told his quarterback, Geno Smith, to step it up.
The Jets spent the offseason building a behemoth of a defense and improving their roster to the point where they could be a playoff contender. But they still have a large, looming question mark at quarterback, and if Smith doesn’t improve, he could single-handedly derail their 2015 season “We bought the Porsche,” Colon said. “We’ve given him the keys. He can’t crash it. Bottom line, he can’t crash it. We need him to be on top of his game.”
Smith has started 29 games in his first two seasons without a lot of success. The Jets went 11-18 in those games, and he has a career QB rating of 71.5.
Smith actually started in his first week in the pros, after Mark Sanchez suffered a season-ending injury in the 2013 preseason.
“Geno’s career right now is extremely turbulent. He was never ready to be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets,” Colon said. “When Mark went down, he was thrown into the fire, and he was forced to cook. Everybody knows in this league, to be a quarterback, which is the number one position on the field, it’s a maturation period you have to go through.”
It sounded more like Colon meant that Smith was not ready in 2013, rather than that he was never ready.
“Now Geno, with that said, has made his mistakes,” Colon said. “He’s said some things where you look at him like, ‘What are you talking about?’ But I think that’s all about his maturation period.
Though there has been some confusion about whether or not the Jets will have a quarterback competition during training camp, it’s become pretty clear that Smith is the heavy favorite to open the season as the starter.
WILKERSON KNOWS DeAL
Muhammad Wilkerson is still waiting to get paid, and he apparently noticed when yet another defensive lineman received a long-term deal. After the Saints reportedly agreed to a deal worth up to $60 million over five years with Cameron Jordan, Wilkerson tweeted, “Yup I see how this works.” The D-lineman has been missing from OTAs in hopes of securing a big contract.