Antonio Cromartie graded his season through six games and it was not pretty.
“C,” Cromartie said. “I’m blunt honest. I’d give myself a C. I haven’t been playing up to that level that I expect myself to be or my teammates expect me to be.”
The slip in Cromartie’s play has been one of the most surprising things about the 2013 Jets, but he promises that will change. Coming off a Pro Bowl season, Cromartie was expected to fill the big shoes left by Darrelle Revis as the team’s No. 1 cornerback. Instead, he has given up three touchdowns and three pass plays of more than 45 yards.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Jets coach Rex Ryan said Cromartie is playing well.
“He’s probably still had a Pro Bowl year,” Ryan said, sounding a tad delusional. “I just think sometimes as much man [coverage] as we play and we give him the tough down down after down. Sometimes you’re going to get beat. He’s been beat on a couple of them. I think he’s given up three touchdowns. … Everybody gets beat. I’m glad he’s on our team, though. He takes a tough down and never flinches.”
It’s true the Jets ask a lot of Cromartie. He is often matched up against the opponent’s best receiver and many times has no safety help. But Cromartie showed he could handle the tough assignments last season after Revis went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 3.
Cromartie disagreed with Ryan’s assessment he is playing at a Pro Bowl level.
“I don’t think I am,” Cromartie said. “From my standpoint I think I can play a whole lot better. I’m always going back and trying to critique myself. I think over these past six games I’ve given up three passes over [45] yards. That’s something that for me I take a lot of pride in and that’s something for me that can’t happen.”
The Steelers’ Emmanuel Sanders was the latest receiver to burn Cromartie when he scored a 55-yard touchdown Sunday. He also gave up a 77-yard touchdown to Nate Washington against the Titans and a 46-yard catch to Julio Jones against the Falcons.
The website Pro Football Focus, which does statistical breakdowns of games, has Cromartie ranked 103 out of 104 cornerbacks in the NFL. According to PFF, quarterbacks have a 110.6 rating throwing at him and have completed 53.7 percent of passes against him.
“It’s been a tough year for me,” Cromartie said. “I don’t consider this being me playing at a Pro Bowl caliber at all. That’s something I definitely want to pick my game up and make sure I’m playing to the best of my ability and these guys understand that also.”
Cromartie has been dealing with a nagging hip injury since training camp and then hyperextended his knee last week in practice. The 29-year-old refused to blame his struggles on his injuries, though.
“I feel fine now,” Cromartie said. “Honestly, coming into these past couple of days, this is probably the healthiest I’ve felt for the entire season. I’m happy about that. I feel like I’m moving a lot better. I’m excited from that standpoint.”
In practice Thursday, Cromartie opened some eyes with an athletic interception.
“He looked pretty good today,” Ryan said. “He made a one-handed interception today that it would be hard for a guy to catch a tennis ball the way he caught a football today one-handed.”
Now, Cromartie has to translate that to the games. The Jets have just one interception as a team this season. Cromartie is the leader of the secondary and the highest-paid member at $6.5 million this season. It’s on him to start making some plays.
Cromartie said he needs to be more physical.
“I’m letting receivers get too many free releases even when I’m in press [coverage],” Cromartie said. “I think last year I was doing a better job of making sure I was getting my hands on the receiver at the line to try to disrupt the timing of the route. That’s something I haven’t been doing in the first six games.”