Antonio Cromartie: I’ve Always Looked at Myself as a Number One Corner

Since the Jets lost their star cornerback, Darrelle Revis, to a season ending knee injury, Antonio Cromartie has had to step up and take on a more prominent role for the Jets. To his credit, the former Pro Bowler has done just that and even shut down Andre Johnson on Monday Night Football. Not to mention his new role on offense that was unveiled on Monday. It was during Training Camp when Cromartie said he was the second best wide receiver on the Jets behind Santonio Holmes. With New York ravaged by injuries, Cro got to show some of that offensive skill against the Texans. He didn’t catch a pass in the game but was open both times the ball was thrown in his direction. One pass was tipped away at the line and the other time he beat Texans cornerback Jonathan Joseph only to the see the pass from Mark Sanchez sail out of bounds. Cromartie is a weapon and New York will need him to return to his Pro Bowl form for the remainder of the season.

Antonio Cromartie joined ESPN Radio New York on the Michael Kay Show to talk about whether the Jets can take any positives from the loss against the Texans, what adjustments the Jets made in the second half to slow down Houston, how tough is it to get by without Santonio Holmes and Darrelle Revis, if he enjoyed playing wide receiver and whether he looks at himself as a number one cornerback.

Whether the Jets can take any positives from the loss against the Texans:

“Just gotta take it as a stepping stone and just look at the things that we did great and just try to build on it. That’s all we really can do. We had a miscue on the first drive on defense on the back end which got their first touchdown. Just little things that we have to clean up and just build on it from there.”

What adjustments the Jets made in the second half to slow down the Texans:

“There weren’t a lot of adjustments at all really. We just wanted every guy to take care of their job and their job only. I think that’s what guys did. Guys came out with more focus and doing their job and trusting in the guys around them that they would be there for them if they happened to mess up on anything else. We played a lot more together after that first touchdown and guys were just trusting each other and going out and playing for each other.”

How tough it is to move on without Santonio Holmes and Darrelle Revis:

“You just have to ignore the fact that they’re not here. We would love to have them here but at the end of the day they’re not here and we have to have guys step up. I think guys like Chaz Schillens, Jeremy Kerley and those guys stepped up on the offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side of the ball guys like Kyle Wilson played football last night.”

Whether he enjoyed playing wide receiver:

“I enjoyed it. Honestly I don’t know if it’s something that I will do some more of. That’s up to the coaching staff. I’m just there to be, if they need me I’m there and if not then I’m focused on playing my position and trying to make sure I’m the best I can be at that position.”

If he thinks a player can play both offense and defense nowadays:

“Yeah I think the body can. I think it’s just more so conditioning-wise and I think Coach Ryan and his staff does a great job getting us in great shape throughout practice and making sure guys are well conditioned for anything.”

Whether he considers himself a number one cornerback:

“Yeah. I’ve always looked at myself as a number one corner, I’ve never looked at myself as a number two corner. The role I’m taking on now is making sure the younger guys understand the game and helping those guys out when we’re watching film and making sure they understand what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to play. We have a great, veteran group with Yeremiah Bell, Eric Smith, LaRon Landry and those guys there. We have a couple of young guys that understand the game also but we just want to make sure they’re playing fast and make sure they know that they don’t have to do too much and just do their job.”