Carlton Davis III Owns Up To Poor Performance

Giving up on Carlton Davis because of a bad game would be foolish. He’s built up enough of a track record to believe he’ll bounce back this week against the Titans when he has a top level matchup against DeAndre Hopkins. There is some concern, though, since Davis hasn’t had an interception yet this season, and hasn’t even really come close. But this week is a new week and his confidence has never wavered.

“Like I said, the position I play, it’s a brutal position,” Davis said. “When you mess up, it’s for millions to see. I know that. I’ve always known that. I’ve been here before. It’s not my first rodeo. I know how to come back from this. My confidence won’t be [damaged]. The next time you see me, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to tell that my confidence will be the same as it was before the play happened. It hurts. It’s like the worst thing that could’ve happened to any [cornerback].

“You’ve got to move on. I can’t stay stuck in that moment. I can’t produce off that moment – I can’t allow it to affect me and affect this team, even though I feel bad not just for me but for my team [and] for the fans [and] for the city of Tampa. It hurts. It’s something that I have to move forward [from] and I have to be better.”

Too Much Zone?

Bowles has received criticism as well for not calling games that are best suited to Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean’s strengths. Both are better as press corners in man-to-man coverages, but Tampa Bay has implemented a lot of zone, which the Bucs coach has admitted to being a struggle. Davis shot down any thought that his play in zone is why he didn’t perform well.

“No. As a [cornerback]… I am a really good press-man [cornerback], but I don’t pride myself on only playing press,” Davis said. “I pride myself on being an all-around [cornerback] and being able to help my team more than that. Regardless of whether I’m playing off or whether I’m playing press, I’m trying to do whatever I can to help this team get a ‘W.’ That didn’t happen. I didn’t hold up my side of the bargain. That’s just the truth of the matter.”

Carlton Davis III Reacts To Ronde Barber’s Comments

The entire secondary drew the ire of NFL Hall of Famer and Bucs legend Ronde Barber, who said after last game that the Bucs looked like “The worst secondary in football.”

Davis, who said he was going to talk to Lavonte David and Barber this week to talk about bouncing back, answered on if a comment by someone of Barber’s stature would be taken personally by him.

“It would only hit home if it wasn’t true, but it was true, right?” Carlton Davis said. “We played like dog crap, right? Like I said, that’s a performance that you have a nightmare about, it’s like a nightmare come true. Anything concerning our performance negatively probably is right. We watched the film together and we all just felt so nasty. It was just the worst to even watch, like I didn’t even want to watch it. I almost wanted to close my eyes.

“But it’s a part of life, it happened and you got to own up to it. And we’re not going to shy away from what happened, we’re not going to shy away from attacking, we’re not going to stop trying to be the best defense. It happened, let’s go, it’s a part of the game, the ups and downs, love it or leave it. We’re either going to fold like a lawn chair or we’re going to get up and keep moving and that’s where I’m at with it. I want to get up and keep moving and fight again.”