Three days before facing the New England Patriots, New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie is ready to share the secret behind his strong play this season.
Breer: Jets still standing
Rumors of the Jets' demise have been greatly exaggerated. Albert Breer lauds a resilient bunch. Plus, Week 7 X-factors. **More ...**
"Just not being bored when the ball is not coming my way," Cromartie told The Star-Ledger. "Not losing focus when the ball is not coming my way, make sure I'm always watching my man."
Boredom on the football field is a relatively new concept, but Cromartie, to be fair, was talking about maintaining focus. He has looked anything but apathetic during the Jets' 3-3 start.
With Darrelle Revis out for the season, Cromartie is lining up against the best receiver on the field every week. His blanket coverage of Andre Johnson in a tight Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans was a thing of beauty. He followed that up with solid play against Reggie Wayne in Sunday's win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Cromartie now prepares to face New England's high-speed offense. He dished out bitter words for the Patriots last season, but this time around, Cromartie was more complementary.
"When you have a dynasty team like coach (Bill) Belichick has put together, they're always going to be talked about," Cromartie said. "That's why I call them the new America's Team."
Mind games -- always -- between these two teams.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.