A.J. Green, Darrelle Revis matchup a possibility?
New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis was the best cornerback in the league last season when purely looking at how well a player shut down receivers when locked up with them, and the impressive thing is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers miscast him by mostly using him in zone coverage. Revis has been used in a Richard Sherman-esque role, exclusively playing on one side of the field for the Patriots. This has led head coach Bill Belichick, who has been criticized heavily recently, to be questioned, as Revis is the kind of player you put on the opposition’s best receiver to take them out of the game. Regardless of how he’s being utilized, Revis isn’t playing up to his normally elite ability, as he’s been fairly average to this point in the regular season.
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Still, nobody should be questioning Revis’s abilities or credentials, meaning that it would be unwise to expect this spell of mediocrity to continue. The Patriots will take on a tough Cincinnati Bengals team this week, and the onus will be on superstar receiver A.J. Green and how often he is covered by Revis. Could the Patriots finally use their big offseason signing in one-on-one coverage against one of the league’s best.
Revis stated that he’s “comfortable” with asking Bill Belichick if he can cover Green exclusively, adding that he’s done this with coaches in the past, via ESPN Boston’s Lee Schechter, “Yeah, I feel comfortable approaching Bill. Whether it’s on the field or if it’s something that’s an issue off the field. Bill is very open to players coming off the field and talking about things on the field.”
Not surprisingly, Revis added that he has a great deal of respect for Green, who commands an awful lot of it with his exceptional physical tools and elite route-running (to go with his communication with Andy Dalton).