Sauce Gardner Takes Accountability After Ugly Week 4 Showing

"I wasn't giving my best effort. I wasn't really giving my best effort in the run game," Gardner admitted Wednesday.

Gardner specifically pointed to multiple plays where he failed to pursue the ball with the effort he expects from himself, including an 87-yard catch-and-run that was eventually called back due to penalties.

"But it was definitely an embarrassing watch," Gardner said. "To just look back at that tape, it was like my effort when the ball is on the other side, it was like an embarrassing watch, an embarrassing feeling."

"That's not what I stand for. That's not the type of person I am. That's not the type of player I am, and that'll never happen again."

I think that response says quite a bit about the type of player Indianapolis has in its secondary.

There is a difference between having a bad game and allowing that performance to become your standard. Gardner clearly has no intention of letting that happen.

One Bad Game Doesn't Define Gardner

Naturally, Sunday's performance has brought back some criticism surrounding the massive price Indianapolis paid to acquire Gardner last November.

But I still believe you have to look at that trade through a much wider lens.

The Colts were 7-2 and sitting atop the AFC when Chris Ballard sent two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell to New York. At that moment, Indianapolis looked like it could be one elite cornerback away from making a legitimate championship run.

It was exactly the type of aggressive move Colts fans had been begging Ballard to make for years.

And from my perspective, Gardner is still a future Hall of Fame-caliber cornerback. The chances of finding someone with his talent in either of those first rounds were never particularly high.

More importantly, Sunday's performance was a clear outlier compared to what we saw through the first three weeks.

Gardner had allowed just five completions on 10 targets entering the Washington matchup, making his struggles in London that much more surprising.

Even the best defensive backs in football have bad afternoons, and one performance isn't going to change my evaluation of Gardner.

What matters now is how he responds, and judging by his comments Wednesday, I would expect a completely different player the next time he takes the field.

"That performance – I ain't got to worry about seeing that ever again," Gardner said.

For a player who has already established himself as one of the premier corners in football, I wouldn't bet against him.