Will Patrick Surtain go toe-to-toe with Davante Adams? Evero hints at plan
Sep 29, 2022, 2:10 PM
Patrick Surtain II defended all six targets his way this past Sunday, in a breakout performance for the star second-season cornerback.
The Sophomore from Alabama had a quiet Week 1 and was injured against the Texans ending his Week 2 early. His Week 3 performance against San Francisco proved that the hype about Denver having a special member of their secondary is real. In Week 4, Denver will face its first AFC West foe of the season; a division dubbed one of the best for the passing game ever. This came in part due to the Broncos trade for Russell Wilson, the division already having Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Derrick Carr, and the addition of other stars like Davante Adams by the Raiders this offseason.
Adams, a five-time Pro Bowler with three 1,000-yard seasons, has caught 17 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns thus far.
“He’s a hard cover,” Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said. “He’s got size, he can go up for the ball, and he can in and out you, he can do all the things that an elite receiver can, tough challenge.”
So will Denver stifle Carr’s best weapon with Surtain?
“I don’t want to give up too much of the game plan,” he said. “He’s a heck of a cover guy, and Davante is a tough cover for anybody, even the best corners in the league, and we just got to change up the looks on him.”
Evero did divulge a nugget about his philosophy in defending an air attack.
“You got to affect the quarterback; that’s the number one deal in terms of stopping the pass game in the NFL,” he said. “We got to pressure the quarterback and, I think it’s a credit to our secondary guys and the fact that we feel good about covering, which allows us to do those things, but yeah, we got to get to the quarterback, and we feel good about our four-man rush, and definitely we feel good when we bring pressure.”
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