While the NFL has gravitated toward more zone coverage to contain high-powered aerial offenses, there still are times where assigning man coverage on the outside is more viable.
In those situations, the Falcons tend to look to third-year cornerback A.J. Terrell to take on those assignments.
“It’s a great challenge for me and for the team, just building for them and for the organization,” Terrell said. “Going up against the best each week, and I accept the challenge.”
Terrell said it feels good that the Falcons’ coaches have maintained their faith in him with those matchups.
“Just having the coaches and everybody believe in me, that helps me believe in myself and get the job done,” Terrell said.
With the support of those around him, Terrell can continue to focus on his assignments shadowing receivers, rather than on the outside noise of fans referring to him as a lock-down corner.
“My head is really just focused on getting the job done each week,” Terrell said. “(The rest) will take care of itself. I just want to dominate.”
This season, Terrell, in his third in the NFL, has taken on household-name receivers such as New Orleans’ Michael Thomas, Seattle’s DK Metcalf, Cleveland’s Amari Cooper, Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and even the Rams’ Cooper Kupp, the Super Bowl LVI MVP.
There are moments where those receivers will get the advantage over Terrell -- as when Thomas scored two touchdowns in the season opener with Terrell in coverage -- but, he said he doesn’t let those individual breakdowns affect his mindset through the entire game.
Furthermore, when having those tough assignments, there are moments where slight mistakes could be costly -- as when he was called for a costly holding penalty in the Falcons’ 21-15 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday.
“I don’t know, man. It was third-and-7 – just trying to get off the field,” Terrell said after the loss. “(The officials) called what they called, and it’s something I can’t control. Just ‘next play’ mentality.”
Terrell recognized the opportunity that the Falcons had in the game, but he understands that he can’t hang his head on those moments. That’s the same mentality that he takes into each game.
“Just by having short-term memory and moving on,” Terrell said of how he keeps his composure in tough moments. “It’s a new week each week, so I have to move on.”
Overall, though, Terrell has held his own with those battles. In Week 4, he covered Cooper on 27 of his 34 routes, holding him to one reception for nine yards on four targets. In other games this season, Cooper has averaged nearly 74 yards per game.
Even so, it’s a team thing for the Falcons. Coach Arthur Smith emphasized that, although they rely on Terrell heavily as an individual in coverage, they still focus on bringing a variety of looks using collaborative efforts from the defense.
On Sunday, Terrell will have another tough shadowing assignment. He will be tasked with covering the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel, who averages 89 yards per game as one of the league’s most versatile receivers.
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