The first 12 games of his NFL career have taught cornerback Jalen Collins not so much about himself as it has about those people on the other side of the ball.
“Everybody’s the best guy at their position, so we just got to be on our game every week, every snap,” Collins said. “Anything could happen and (the Panthers, Sunday’s opponent) have great players everywhere. So you just got to stay focused the whole time.”
Take last Sunday’s disappointing loss to the Buccaneers. Collins, a second-round draft pick out of LSU, said facing deep threats like Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans challenged him, but also provided him a lesson he will carry over through the rest of the season.
“Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans were taller (both 6-feet-5), more physical guys,” Collins said. “They have deep threats in Carolina as well. Probably not as big, probably not as physical, but they definitely can do some similar things so you just have to be prepared.”
The Falcons’ (6-6) defense drew criticism for poor tackling in the 23-19 loss to the Bucs, defensive coordinator Richard Smith calling it the worst display he’s seen all season.
“We’re very disappointed,” Smith said. “It needs to improve. We emphasize it every day since the first day Coach (Dan) Quinn’s gotten here. We work on it on a daily basis.”
Smith said Collins’ is like any other young player who will develop and grow with more game experience. Collins was only a starter for one season at LSU and foot surgery caused him to sit out most of the offseason.
“He would probably tell you he needs to improve on his performance, but that’s with everybody,” Smith said. “We (all) have to do a much better job preforming than we have the last few weeks.”
The Panthers are not the best team for polishing an opponent’s tackling skills. Carolina’s 12-0 record is built around a powerful rushing game that ranks third in the NFL’s with 1,703 yards. The Panthers average 4.8 yards per attempt and after they picked up nearly 500 yards in their latest win over the Saints, the Falcons face one of the year’s biggest challenges.
“When we line up, all records are out the window,” safety William Moore said. “It’s 0-0. You respect them for what they’ve done and I hope they do the same for us. They’re going to look at film and see we’re a pretty good team and we’re not pushovers. Regardless of what the record says, you have to respect us. We’ll do the same with them.”
Collins said one of the biggest adjustments he’s made as a professional is learning the importance on film study and mental preparation. He believes he’s improving but every Sunday provides a new test.
“It’s something that coming out of college, it wasn’t as big. But now it’s pretty much all we do,” Collins said. “We have to prepare more mentally.”
