On Wednesday it was Raven Matt Elam who sparked controversy throughout Baltimore and more importantly in Detroit with his comments about Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.
By now you have seen or heard the comments over and over again as they have been played out by every sports channel and local television as well. While Elam was complimentary of “Megatron” at the onset of his comments, it quickly turned the corner when he used the word “old”.
Well as we all expected, Calvin Johnson responded to Elam’s comments on Thursday and he didn’t mince words.
“I am getting old. It’s all good, though. I’ll show him what that ‘old man’ strength is about,” the Lions veteran receiver stated. “It doesn’t surprise me, because he doesn’t have to see me on the field. He can talk all he wants. He plays back, so I don’t see him every play – unless I run past him. I’m not worried about it.”
And it didn’t stop there, Johnson also took a quick jab at the Ravens entire secondary.
“I think Matt [Elam] does a good job with his eyes. If we get those guys out of position, though, we can make some plays. Just safeties – nothing extraordinary, but I think definitely [they’re] guys that we can make plays on.”
While it is likely Johnson will draw cornerback Jimmy Smith, he spoke about each player in the Ravens secondary.
“Jimmy [Smith], I’ll start with him. [He’s a] big, tall and physical corner. He takes up a lot of space, so that’s good for him in coverage. They have [Lardarius] Webb. They have [Corey] Graham – who I’m familiar with. He played in Chicago [and] has good ball skills. The safeties, I think they’re young – [Matt] Elam and [James] Ihedigbo.”
One thing is for certain: Calvin is going to be a nightmare for coordinator Dean Pees. It won’t matter much if he chooses to play press or man coverage on Johnson; he has seen it all.
“Both. I see a little bit of everything. It all depends. I’ll see some one-on-one occasionally. Most of the time that is press [coverage], and they can slow you down and try to disrupt the timing between you and the quarterback.”
Hear that Jimmy? “Slow you down?” It is time to play physical.
Whether the war of words so to speak really “amps” up an already beast of a player in Calvin Johnson remains to be seen. It’s not like Calvin wasn’t going to bring his “A” game anyway on Monday night.
When asked about Johnson on Thursday afternoon Smith took the high road. “They call him Megatron for a reason.”
Well played Jimmy, well played.
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