Remember When Darrelle Revis Totally Shut Down Calvin Johnson? He does!
By: Jeff Riger
@riger1984
Wednesday's during Lions season, reporters get a chance to talk to players and coaches from the opposition of the week. This Wednesday Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano and cornerback Darrelle Revis called in to participate in a question and answer session.
Usually, I don't necessarily even wait around for the phone conversations because the audio isn't the greatest for radio and the people don't say all that much, however this Wednesday was different. When I arrived in the Lions practice facility, I immediately saw that defensive back Darrelle Revis would be calling in and I knew I had to wait around for him.
I don't know all that much about Revis other than the fact that he calls himself "Revis Island" and that he shut down Calvin Johnson the last time he played the Lions, when he was a member of the Jets. These two facts alone had me hopeful that Revis would be an entertaining interview.
So what does Revis remember about his 2010 encounter with Johnson when he held him to 1 catch for 13 yards?
"We had a good game plan that week" Revis said. I covered him most of the time; you know man coverage and happened to do a great job on him.
Revis isn't focused on trying to duplicate the effort saying "I'm not worried about evening that stat or trying to better that stat. That was years ago- I have a lot of respect for Calvin and what he is doing in the league and I'm sure he has a lot of respect for me as well. I don't know what the outcome will be Sunday.
Revis was once considered the best cornerback in the game, but after tearing his ACL in 2012, there is much speculation about how far Revis has come in his recovery?
"I'm working my way back the best I can, I'm just continuing to rehab and continue to strengthen my leg. I'm doing fine though" Revis said after admitting that he is not all the way back from his injury and doesnt know when he will be. Revis would also not engage in conversation if shutting down Johnson would be a so called "feather in his cap" at this stage of his recovery nor would he admit that Calvin has changed all that much as a receiver.
And then there was the question about if Revis thought Sunday's matchup between him and Johnson would be the best receiver in the game vs. the best corner? Does Revis think he's better than the likes of the Cardinals Patrick Peterson and the Seahawks Richard Sherman?
Listen to the below audio cut to find out the answer. It's an interesting exchange between Revis and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
