Chad Johnson calls out our secondary

[DefenseRules]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/

September 27, 2006
Chad speaks out
Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, on a conference call with New England reporters, asked the media to pass on the following messages to Patriots defenders:

"You tell 37 [Rodney Harrison], I'm going to knock his helmet off. Tell Asante [Samuel] that he should continue to have help for all four quarters, or his 22 will be 55, which is 22 upside down. Tell Junior [Seau], when I'm done with him ... never mind, I'm not going to pick on Junior. Tell Eugene Wilson, if he hits me across the middle, we'll probably have to fight and get thrown out of the game right there on the spot. My last hit I was going to take this year was in Cleveland. If anyone hits me like that again, they're going down."

Asked if the Patriots had a trash talker like Pittsburgh's Joey Porter, Johnson said: "No. Yeah. What am I talking about? Rodney. He's the original, old-school trash talker. He hits you and still talks trash. Punch you on the bottom of the pile, and talk trash. He's the original."

Johnson, who was clearly having fun, did say that he and Harrison speak before games.

"He's one of those guys I sit down and talk to every pre-game, for 20 to 25 minutes, on keeping my head clean and staying focused. More of a father-son talk every time I talk to Rodney. We did it two years ago when we played in the preseason. He gave me some great advice about staying on a straight line and staying focused, and staying out of trouble, and if I'm in the headlines make sure it was something positive."

"Rodney is one

LOL! I feel treacherous for saying this but Chad, you have nothing to worry about. I know Chad's just having some fun, but two years ago, this would have lit a fire in our secondary. I'm not sure our current secondary has any fire at all.

 

[Murphys95]

That looks to be the matchup of the game - Bengals receivers vs. Pats secondary. On paper Cincy has quite an advantage. We'll see on Sunday.

 

[PatsDeb]

It's pretty clear after watching the Bengals receivers win almost every jump ball against Pittsburgh's d-backs last week (what are those guys, all 7 footers?) that our chance of winning this game begins and ends with rattling Palmer and keeping up with the shoot-out.

 

[Oswlek]

I think that's actually pretty funny.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

I love how Johnson waits until the year when our secondary totally sucks to start talking kaka!

Yeah, okay, Chad, so you & TJ are gonna smoke our secondary this weekend.

So what?

That's like the beating the neighborhood ******ed kid in one-on-one and bragging about it!

ADPF

 

[Kdo5]

I dont care if the Bengals kick the **** out of us but it would make my day if Wilson or Harrison knocked the **** out of him if he is brave enough to go across the middle. But he is problably too much of a sissy, afterall he is still complaining about being hit a few weeks ago. Then it would get so much better if a fight did start, I'd love it!

 

[PonyExpress]

Johnson is a riot. That encounter he had with Porter at midfield last week was hilarious. Porter was growling like a wild beast and Johnson was squeaking with a quavering falsetto like a frightened teenage girl. At times they sounded like a con and his prison-byatch...

 

[Alk]

LMAO, that's awesome!! You have to hand it to Johnson, he makes every game just that much more interesting.

 

[Alk]

I love how Johnson waits until the year when our secondary totally sucks to start talking kaka!

Yeah, okay, Chad, so you & TJ are gonna smoke our secondary this weekend.

So what?

That's like the beating the neighborhood ******ed kid in one-on-one and bragging about it!

ADPF

I'm pretty sure this is the first time Johnson has faced us since he has started all of these antics.

 

[Michigan Dave]

I love Chad Johnson. He's my favorite non-Pat. He doesn't take himself too seriously, and he makes the games fun.

That said, have at 'em, Rodney!

 

[Brownfan80]

I think that's actually pretty funny.

It made me laugh, I know that much.

Only it'd be great if the secondary actually DID something about it. Which I don't think they will (or even can). I hope the Offense is ready to score some points.

 

[Cicero]

That's just Chad being Chad. His smack is always of the good natured variety. He is our official team clown. There is also a bit of a mind game to it. His words are intended to draw attention to him and off of Henry and Houshmanzadeh. Pittsburgh fell for it and the result was clear.

 

[DefenseRules]

That's just Chad being Chad. His smack is always of the good natured variety. He is our official team clown. There is also a bit of a mind game to it. His words are intended to draw attention to him and off of Henry and Houshmanzadeh. Pittsburgh fell for it and the result was clear.

That tactic is wasted on our secondary, I doubt highly that they can keep up with any of your Wrs, IMO.

 

[Brownfan80]

That tactic is wasted on our secondary, I doubt highly that they can keep up with any of your Wrs, IMO.

Yeah, I was going to say: They'll probably ALL be open anyway, so I'm not sure that the tactic is effective against our group.

 

[mgcolby]

I'm not getting this "our secondary can't keep up" crap. The only thing that our secondary has had problems with thus far is tackling on 4 plays in three games. Granted they ended up being 4 TD's due to poor tackling but our coverage has not been the problem. I just don't understand how people after watching the first three games can come away shaking their head at the coverage. They should be shaking their heads at 4 big plays that were a direct result of piss poor tackling and nothing more.

 

[Brownfan80]

I'm not getting this "our secondary can't keep up" crap. The only thing that our secondary has had problems with thus far is tackling on 4 plays in three games. Granted they ended up being 4 TD's due to poor tackling but our coverage has not been the problem. I just don't understand how people after watching the first three games can come away shaking their head at the coverage. They should be shaking their heads at 4 big plays that were a direct result of piss poor tackling and nothing more.

I suppose you're right, but it's so easy to for me to pick those drums back up after banging on them for the first 8 or so weeks of last season (which the Denver game felt so much like). Besides, if I believe the worst of our D again then all I can be is pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.

:eat1:

 

[primetime]

That's just Chad being Chad. His smack is always of the good natured variety. He is our official team clown. There is also a bit of a mind game to it. His words are intended to draw attention to him and off of Henry and Houshmanzadeh. Pittsburgh fell for it and the result was clear.

Yeah, it wasn't any Fred Mitchell "I've got something for you," it was clearly just good natured. In fact, the guys he was calling out he's probably on good terms with, judging by what he was saying (especially Rodney, which seemed to be a mockery of the Fred Mitchell speech).

 

[PonyExpress]

Our secondary is being undervalued by the fans. The problem has not been the CBs, it has been safety play. Samuel and Hobbs have been good thus far. My gut feeling is we will see a much more competitive game than most of our fans expect. There are reasons for optimism in this contest, despite wide-spread hand-wringing, panic, and lamentation.

 

[mgcolby]

I suppose you're right, but it's so easy to for me to pick those drums back up after banging on them for the first 8 or so weeks of last season (which the Denver game felt so much like). Besides, if I believe the worst of our D again then all I can be is pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.

:eat1:

I was about to make that comaprison, but I didn't think it was neccessary. Last year it was everything, tackling, coverage, Hobbs and Samual doing a celebratory chest bump after making a big hit on a receiver who just got a 1st down on a 3rd and 11. That sh!t had me throwing stuff at my TV. The breakdowns in the secondary have been a somewhat alarming trend of a couple of Isolated incidents per game. That is fixable, Starkes is not!

 

[Cicero]

You guys can do a lot for your secondary by establishing the rushing attack on offense. Carson Palmer and our recievers have carved up some very good secondaries. They have made the Ravens defense look silly multiple times. The best way to contain them is to keep them off the field.