Jamal Carter saw the most extensive playing time of his NFL career Sunday, when he split the Falcons’ strong safety duties straight down the middle with Kemal Ishmael, and there’s one play in particular he would like to take back.
When Rams tight end Gerald Everett got behind him for a 33-yard reception early in the third quarter, it was the biggest play of the game for Los Angeles and a huge part of the touchdown drive that staked the visitors to a 20-3 lead.
Altogether, he finished with three tackles and one pass defense while playing 38 defensive snaps – like Ishmael -- in his first defensive action with the Falcons.
“I feel like I played all right. I gave up one deep ball in man coverage, so that’s a minus on my part. Other than that, I feel like I played good,” Carter said. “I was thinking that he was to do a come-back route, so I played under and I let him get over the top. He just beat me.”
As a relative newcomer, the third-year safety is still learning a new system.
He joined the Broncos in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Miami, where as a senior he led the Hurricanes with 85 tackles.
Carter played in all 16 games for Denver, totaling eight defensive tackles and three special-teams stops before spending last season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
The Broncos released him after this preseason, and the Falcons signed him to the practice squad shortly before the regular season.
That didn’t last long.
When starting strong safety Keanu Neal tore his left Achilles tendon in the third game, Carter was signed to the roster. By the Falcons’ fifth game, against the Texans, he was in uniform and playing on multiple special-teams units. By Game 7, he became half of a tag team with Ishmael at the strong spot.
“The thing we like about Jamal is he gives tremendous effort. He’s a smart, intelligent kid. He’s picked up on our system in a short amount of time,” defensive backs coach Doug Mallory said. “I just think the more reps he’s getting in practice, the plays he’s making in practice ... his playmaking ability, his effort, his soundness helped elevate his reps.
“He’s a little bit more in our nickel package, but he’s certainly capable of being an every-down safety for us.”
At 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, Carter is close in size to Neal (6-0, 211), and while he may not pack the wallop that Neal so often plays with, he’s offering diversity in tandem with Ishmael.
“Here’s what I saw: a really versatile guy who can play in space,” coach Dan Quinn said. “He got challenged in some man-to-man. Some you win, some you lose some. ... (That’s) life on the outside. When you have that versatility on (special) teams and on defense, we’re developing him. As we get some more playing time, you keep getting some more developing.”
There’s also more room and playbook to learn.
“I ask other safeties questions. I ask other players questions, even if it’s a receiver and I feel like they may know something better than I do,” he said. “It is mostly the same (material as in Denver), but languages are different. The terminology is not the same.”
There are plenty of questions for coaches, too, as Carter, “is locked into every meeting,” Mallory said. “He stands next to me pretty much every play. He always knows the call. He’s always talking on the sideline if he’s not in the game.”
Carter is not yet so talkative on the field during games.
“He’s getting better. I think right now he’s so locked in on his position that that’s where his focus is at. Whereas I think (free safety Ricardo Allen) has a better overall feel for the whole package, the whole defense,” Mallory said. “Rico does such a tremendous job studying.
“He picks up tips and tendencies off of formations and personnel, and that’s where he’s more vocal to the entire defense. I think that’s where Jamal’s a little bit (better) communicating what he sees at his position.”
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