Tampa Bay Buccaneers' cornerback Carlton Davis III had perhaps the worst game in his entire career against the Houston Texans.
According to Pro Football Focus, Davis was tied as the Bucs' worst coverage defender this past Sunday with Zyon McCollum grading out at an abysmal 29.3. Davis allowed seven catches on the eight times that he was targeted by Texans' QB C.J. Stroud for 112 yards and THREE touchdowns.
The play by Davis was very unexpected as he has become the Buccaneers' go-to lockdown corner over the past few seasons. Davis has been dealing with some lingering injury issues, but that did not seem to be the reason behind his poor performance.
When speaking with the media following practice on Wednesday Carlton Davis had much to say following his performance on Sunday and starting with how his performance made him feel.
“I feel bad. Not just for me but for this team, our fans, the city of Tampa. It hurts."
Davis continued, explaining what exactly went wrong.
“Everything was wrong. I don’t have an explanation, honestly. What you saw is what happened. Just got to own up to it. (It’s) hurtful to watch, to replay it in your head especially knowing the caliber of player I am and the standards that I have. It’s like one of the worst things that can happen.
"It’s the brutal truth of playing corner is that whenever you’re not on point, it’s for the whole world to see. It could be for all the marbles, that’s just the position that I play. I take it with pride, I love what I do and I’m going to get better and move on past it. I just want to get that nasty taste out of my mouth.”
Hopefully what Davis is saying is something that he will take to heart and learn from. His play on Sunday is not what Buccaneers' fans are used to and definitely not what the organization expects of him. Being able to compartmentalize bad games such as the one he had on Sunday will be imperative to improving moving forward
Although Davis' performance on Sunday is in the spotlight, the secondary as a whole did not perform all that great, which led to former Buccaneers' Hall of Famer Ronde Barber to call them out as 'the worst secondary in the league'. While speaking with reporters, Davis also addressed these comments made by Barber.
"It would only hit home if it wasn't true. But it's true, right? We played like dog crap. That's a performance that you have a nightmare about. It's like a nightmare come true. So anything concerning our performance negatively, probably it's right."
Davis and the Buccaneers' secondary will look to get back on track this week as they will once again face off against a rookie quarterback, this time in Will Levis of the Tennessee Titans.
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