He wasn’t wearing his Super Bowl championship ring, but on Friday in the New England Patriots locker-room, cornerback Carlton Davis let the world know that he’s established a pretty solid resume during his nine National Football League seasons.
Pressed by the media on Friday about the news that New England’s top corner, Christian Gonzalez, would not be playing and what would the Patriots do without their CB1, the veteran who won a title as a lead corner with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fired back.
“First and foremost, there’s no such thing as a CB1 or 2, so y’all can stop saying that because when you get out there, you’ve just got to cover guys, right?”
Feeling a tad disrespected?
It was a definitive statement by Davis, who will now take the lead role with Charles Woods stepping in as the proverbial “next man up.”
“When Gonzo is out there, he’s dominating his position, and when I’m out there, I’m trying to do the same thing,” said Davis.
“Gonzo is a playmaker for sure, so we know we’re going to miss him out there. But you know we preach all the time, next guy up and you know Charles Woods has been playing good every time he had to step in for one of us.
“We’re going to trust him and go out to this game trying to win it for sure.”
Davis played well in Week 2
Davis missed the Week 2 win over Pittsburgh with Woods stepping into that spot.
So, the Patriots will be short-handed but ready to challenge the explosive Bills offense led by Josh Allen.
Another starter, defensive tackle Christian Barmore, was also officially ruled out.
“That is just what the situation is. There’s nothing we can do about it,” said head coach Mike Vrabel of the current injury status.
“We can make sure that the guys that are playing are ready and that we continue to do the things that we know are going to help us. But that happens every week in the National Football League. I’m looking forward to seeing the guys that are going to play in there.”
