There are certain things rookies in the NFL should do and then there are things they shouldn’t do.
The latter was the case on Wednesday afternoon when Ravens rookie Matt Elam spoke about Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.
When asked about how to cover Johnson Elam stated “He’s pretty old, so I don’t know how physical he’ll be,” Elam said. “He’s a big guy, but he’s older. I guess when they get older they’re not going to be as physical, you know what I’m saying? We’re going to have to be physical, make him uncomfortable.”
Matt, Matt, Matt!! A word of advice to you my friend, never ever poke a sleeping giant. Let me get this straight you want to call a guy who has 9,184 yards receiving and 67 touchdowns in less than seven years old!
I am quite sure the Ravens PR staff cringed when this hit the street earlier this afternoon.
Let me remind everyone what happened when Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant spoke about about Calvin Johnson earlier this year.
Megatron finished with 14 catches, 329 yards, the second-highest, single-game total in NFL history — and a touchdown. It was almost even more as however he was tackled twice inside the 5-yard line in the week eight match-up against the Cowboys.
Not that the Lions need a whole lot of bulletin board material on Monday night to get them going against the Ravens but this certainly will make their locker room.
For a Ravens secondary that has given up an average of 231.7 passing yards a game, Elam should have just kept it simple with the media when he stated Johnson was “Big, fast, athletic, unstoppable, freak.”
Elam has had his ups and downs this season and has experienced the normal growing pains of a rookie safety but has played well.
The main focus of the Ravens defense against the Lions is obviously stopping Johnson and getting pressure on quarterback Matt Stafford.
Elam was very complimentary about Johnson on Wednesday as well, and I don’t think he intended on that particular quote coming out like it did but it’s out there now.
Sometimes silence is golden.
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