Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford are aware of what is being perceived of them.
The high-priced cornerbacks haven’t had a good year statistically, with neither having recorded an interception through nine games. Alford hasn’t had too many chances to pick off a pass. Trufant, on the other hand, has had plenty. While Trufant has had his share of good moments from a coverage standpoint, the number of dropped interceptions has been uniquely noticeable.
Advertisement
The drop that hurt the Falcons the most was a would-be game-sealing pick against Cincinnati. While Trufant declined to speak with reporters after the team’s loss Sunday to Cleveland, he did address his year to date when approached Thursday during the team’s open locker room period.
“I’ve dropped a lot of balls,” Trufant said. “If I would have caught those five balls, it’s a totally different season. At the same time, it is what it is. I play corner. Sometimes things go good; sometimes things go bad.”
Trufant and Alford entered the league together as both were drafted by the Falcons in 2013. In December of 2016, Alford signed a four-year, $38 million deal, and in April of 2017, Trufant inked a five-year extension worth $69 million. Prior to this season, the two have been reliable corners, hence the reason they were paid the amount they were.
This year at least, it would appear that even Trufant and Alford are in agreement that their play hasn’t matched their previous output. Some of it can be attributed to defensive injuries to Deion Jones, Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen. The two corners have been forced to become accustomed to different players communicating calls on the field. They also have been at the mercy of these not-as-experienced players missing assignments, such as a linebacker missing an underneath coverage when a corner is responsible for a deep third of the field. That can make a cornerback look worse than what actually transpired on a play.
The absence of someone like Jones has allowed for teams to attack Atlanta’s middle with more frequency, which has left everyone more vulnerable on the defensive side. When asked for his thoughts on how he has fared this year, Alford said it hasn’t gone as expected.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Alford said. “It’s not how I wanted, but things are going to get better. Playing cornerback, you’re always going to have adversity. It’s how you come up out of it.”
Advertisement
The website Pro Football Focus has attributed a 60.8 grade to Trufant, which is considered average among his peers. The same site has Alford at a 48.5, which is considered below average.
During the past two days, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was asked about his top two corners’ performance. Each time, he deferred to talk about the entire defense. It was evident he didn’t want to come across as throwing his players under the bus.
“When we’re really pass rushing well, our pass coverage looks better,” Quinn said. “When we’re really owning our gaps, our run fits look better.”
Trufant offered up some areas where he can improve. To start, he said he isn’t staying patient enough to allow plays to develop before breaking on them. Instead, Trufant has found himself jumping a play too soon or reacting too early. He said he needs to allow plays to set up accordingly before reacting on the ball.
Trufant believes that if he hones in on his technique that his play will pick up to where it has been in previous years.
“I’m my hardest critic, so I’m always looking at what I can get better at, what I did good and what I did bad at,” Trufant said. “I attack the problem and focus on it. I have to bring the energy and play with relentless effort. It’ll turn around. It’s ball. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
In the loss to the Browns, both players had a couple of plays that weren’t ideal to re-watch on film. On Cleveland’s first touchdown, Alford was matched up with receiver Rashard Higgins, who ran a post pattern. Alford appeared to be expecting help over the deep middle, except that safety Damontae Kazee saw Browns receiver Jarvis Landry running free from nickelback Brian Poole.
Kazee likely didn’t see the pass rush closing on quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield was able to deliver a perfect throw to Higgins, who gained some steps on Alford during the post route. Prior to a recent ankle injury, Alford would have had plenty of speed to catch up to Higgins and knock the ball away like he has on numerous occasions before.
Advertisement
In this game, he wasn’t able to recover in time.
“It was a little miscommunication,” Alford said. “We watched it on Monday and learned from it and made sure that mistake doesn’t happen against the (Dallas) Cowboys.”
In the third quarter, Nick Chubb burst through a wide-open hole up the middle, and neither cornerback was able to get to him. Alford — who said his ankle is fine — didn’t appear to be running pain-free in pursuit. With Chubb bursting through to the secondary, Trufant elected to force Chubb to the middle of the field as opposed to allowing him to hit the sideline. But once Chubb turned that direction, Trufant, with Antonio Callaway blocking, was unable to make a play on the ball-carrier.
“No excuses. I’ve got to get to the ball at the end of the day,” Alford said. “Even when I saw the play on film, I felt I should’ve walked him down and should have just hustled. At the time, I felt the guys were going to make the tackle. Next time … it’s always a learning experience.”
Said Trufant, “I could have done more. That’s all I can say to that.”
The two corners have found themselves in the cross hairs of local sports radio and angry fans on social media platforms who have been unhappy with their seasons. Both players said it will get better, and perhaps it will with Jones returning to game action soon. Jones’ ability to communicate and cover the middle could tighten windows and make life easier for the corners on the outside.
For now, however, Trufant and Alford can only roll with the criticisms that have come with their seasons.
“I’m judging myself harder than anybody else can,” Trufant said. “It is what it is. It’s the league. I’m in the spotlight. I’m earning what I’m earning. It just comes with it. That’s how it goes. I’m in that position. But I’m not trippin’. I just keep working, attack the issues and stay humble. I’ve been here before in life so I’m not trippin’. I’ll just keep working.”
(Top photo of Desmond Trufant: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports)