Darrelle Revis has essentially been a shell of his former self this season, but he must be hoping opposing teams haven’t noticed. Otherwise, why would Revis be surprised the New England Patriots threw his way on Sunday?
Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes to rookie wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell in his team’s 22-17 win over the New York Jets, and Revis was in coverage both times. Revis later told reporters he didn’t expect Brady to target him so much.
“This time he attacked me a little bit more than I expected, but at the same time it’s football,” Revis said, per Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com. “He has to execute and I have to execute better on my end.”
Brady’s first touchdown pass to Mitchell came after he fumbled a snap, but he quickly scooped the ball up and found Mitchell running across the back of the end zone. On the second score, Revis said he was covering the inside and strongly implied the end result was not his fault.
“I could have played an outside technique, but I am leaving the middle of the field open,” he said. “Definitely on that play the rush is supposed to get there. It was a blitz. Zero blitz. … I have to do my job and protect the inside. That’s the weak spot in the defense, the out routes. That is what you want them to throw, but when the end zone line is right there, it’s definitely something where you have to be aware of because as soon as the ball crosses the line it’s a touchdown.”
Revis wasn’t targeted until Mitchell’s first touchdown in the second quarter, but the Patriots went at him often after that. He said he expected that to happen from the time he spent with the Patriots, knowing they will target opposing defensive backs “in waves.”
Simply put, Revis is no longer an asset. The whole “Revis Island” thing doesn’t really exist anymore, and he even alluded to that when he made these comments recently. The 31-year-old really shouldn’t be surprised when any quarterback throws his way.
