Second-year Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie has established himself as one of the better defensive backs in the NFL.
His versatility enables him to line up and play well in the slot or out on the boundary, and he has become dangerous as a blitzer with three sacks and 14 quarterback pressures. He also has the fourth-highest Pro Football Focus grade on the team at 81.7. However, there is one thing that keeps a chip on McDuffie's shoulder, the fact that he has yet to record his first NFL interception.
“I mean shoot, that’s always something on my mind," McDuffie told reporters about chasing his first career interception. "I think that’s always on a DBs mind is going to get that interception, but I’ve tried not to let it affect my confidence, affect my play, but it definitely gives you this edge that I have to go out there and keep proving myself and keep trying to go get that one.”
McDuffie also spoke about the defense's mentality on forcing turnovers.
“Honestly, I think it goes back to just your practice habits," he said. "I think this team does a really, really good job of players being attentive and detailed when it comes to stripping the ball out, picks, interceptions, and (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Steve) Spags is always harping on getting that ball back to the offense, turnovers. And in the game, there’s not much that you can really control that can say like, ‘Oh yeah if we do this, we’re going to get turnovers,’ but I think going after the ball is going to be huge. I feel like there’s a lot of times where – especially us on the backend, we’re in the right place, we’re around the ball, and we’re just not making the play on it, so I think we just have to do a better job at mentally just being like, ‘You know when the ball is in the air, we have to go get it.’”
In some ways, McDuffie not having snagged an interception yet is a positive reflection on his play as quarterbacks don't want to challenge him very often. With 26 career starts under his belt, though, it is about time for him to start thieving some passes. Interceptions are game-changing plays that the Chiefs desperately need to help their struggling offense.
If McDuffie can start hauling in a handful of picks each year, it could elevate him to All-Pro status. He'll have a chance on Sunday against Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Jake Browning, who has thrown six interceptions in his last five games.
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