Struggling Xavier Rhodes ‘hurting my team’ with penalties

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes, often regarded as one of the NFL’s best, feels like he’s not getting a fair shake from the officials this season.

Rhodes said he felt like he has a “target on my back” after taking a seventh flag in eight games this season Thursday night, but committed to cleaning things up and cutting out the fouls.

“Right now, I’m hurting my team,” Rhodes said, via Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune. “They’re helping me out with the wins. It’s the penalties that’s been killing me. I feel like in coverage, I’ve been in great coverage all the games I’ve played, but it’s the penalties that have been killing me.”

Rhodes feels he has a “rep” for being penalty-prone, and cited an incident at Detroit last week as evidence that officials have a microscope on him.

“It was a little slight tug and the ref said, ‘I’m going to call you next time,'” Rhodes said. “I’m like … ‘I ain’t even do nothing.’ That lets me know. That confirms to me that it’s a target on my back. They’re looking at every little detail in my game. Everything I do they looking at 29 [his number] and what 29 does. It is what it is. I have to go out there and work on a different technique, work on myself and do better.”

The Vikings have said that they want more out of Rhodes. That doesn’t mean penalties, and he’s clearly frustrated. The good news for the Vikings is, even though he clearly feels he’s been treated unfairly, he’s committed to adapting to this treatment instead of making excuses. That should benefit him and the team going forward.