![]() ![]() Watching that and watching him grow from that into a player that looks forward to going one on one against the top receivers in the league, it’s pretty fun. ![]() Especially from his rookie year – I remember when he got his first interception against the San Francisco 49ers. … They get excited about that opportunity. “Great players want to play against great players. “And I think James, he loves the challenge, and he realizes there’s gonna be some give-and-take, but he has a lot of confidence in his ability to do his job. “He will be the first one to tell you how much he respects Julio Jones,” said Washington. ![]() We just think he’s got the right skillset, the right mental makeup.” “It’s a tall task every week when you ask James to do certain things … And so to have a guy like James, we feel very fortunate. “A guy that’s physical, that can run, that’s long, that has a good, competitive spirit about him, I think is the kind of guy that you want to be able to line up against Julio,” said Rivera. And in growing into a veteran, head coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Eric Washington both pointed to the amount of confidence that Bradberry now has in his ability to match up with elite receivers. Though a groin injury forced him to miss his first game in three years just last week, Bradberry is perhaps in the best position he’s ever been in prior to a matchup with Jones: he is arguably having the best season of his career as he has recorded a career-high three interceptions and already has nine pass breakups to go with 35 tackles through nine games. It’s definitely been something we’ve noticed too.” “That’s a difficult matchup to win on the release, and you can tell he’s worked hard at it. “What James has shown he’s going to do is when he’s playing up on the line and playing aggressive – what we would call bump or at the line – That’s a challenging release, and you see more and more of that for the guy that he is guarding. “He’s got such good size that when you have to release over and over again on somebody with James’ size, that can make it challenging,” Quinn said this week. However, as the years have gone on, Bradberry has developed great technique to go with his length and size – which has forced Falcons head coach Dan Quinn to have to account for him. 11 for the Falcons.įrom the get-go, Bradberry’s physique at 6-1 and 212 pounds meant that he matched up naturally with Jones, 6-3 and 220 pounds. That reputation has been developed by what Bradberry has been able to do against the big, fast, and physical receivers of the NFC South – none more prominent than No. Once firmly in the shadow of Josh Norman, Bradberry has become the Panthers’ most-trusted cornerback, and arguably as good a cover corner as there is in the NFL – among corners that have been targeted 40 or more times this season, Bradberry has allowed the fourth-lowest passer rating in the league. “And that was one moment that I knew I could play in this league.”Īs Bradberry prepares to go up against Julio Jones for the seventh time his Sunday, much has changed for him in his four years in the NFL. Just feeling my way through the league, trying new things against new receivers,” said Bradberry on Thursday. But in two-man coverage, he was able to jam him at the line – and realized that if he could hang tough with Julio, he could play against any receiver he faced. As a second round pick out of an FCS school, Bradberry was far from the sort of household name expected to cover Jones. It was a divisional game against the Atlanta Falcons, and Bradberry’s assignment was none other than Julio Jones – the Falcons’ perennial All-Pro and arguably the single-most dominant receiver of the past decade. As a rookie in 2016, James Bradberry made one particular play that convinced him he could play at a high level in the National Football League. ![]()
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