New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore saw something on game film that gave him supreme confidence in his matchup against Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz.
Gilmore spotted Ertz “crying” to referees in a previous game, according to NESN’s Doug Kyed. Gilmore said after the Patriots’ 17-10 win on Sunday that emotional outburst was reason enough for the cornerback to believe he could get the tight end rattled. While Gilmore handled coverage duties on a number of different Eagles’ pass-catchers on Sunday, he moved to coverage on Ertz on third downs to take away quarterback Carson Wentz’s go-to target in those situations.
The results were good: the Patriots held the Eagles to just 10 points. The Eagles were just 3 of 13 on third downs. Ertz, meanwhile, enjoyed a nice night (9 catches, 94 yards), though his successes came mostly without Gilmore in coverage.
Stephon Gilmore said he knew he could get Zach Ertz a little rattled because he had seen the Eagles tight end crying on film.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) November 18, 2019
Gilmore, of course, saw more than just emotional appeals to offcials during his film study — the cornerback is a film junkie, and is extremely thorough. He explained what his plans were for his matchups with Ertz, who is an unusual matchup for Gilmore, a cornerback that has spent the entire season on top receivers.
“He’s a tight end. He’s not as fast as some of the guys I cover. If he has a step on me, I can recover real fast. I’ve got to slow myself down a little bit to play him tighter, because I’ve been playing faster guys. So that’s what I did,” Gilmore told reporters, adding that he tried to avoid a physical battle with Ertz, via CLNS’s Evan Lazar. “You’ve got to let him run, because if you fight too physical with him, he’s going to push off. That’s what he’s good at, so you’ve got to be smart.”
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