Richard Sherman took his compliment in stride during a humble on-field interview Sunday, just moments after the Seahawks delivered a signature win over the Steelers in Seattle.
He held Antonio Brown to just three catches for 24 yards on nine passes thrown in their direction. Brown finished in total with six catches for 54 yards.
After the game, though, we got a bit of the old Sherman back.
"I don't guard small receivers well, so I don't know what I did 'cause that's not what I do well," Sherman told TribLive.com in a very tongue-in-cheek moment. "That's my biggest weakness, so I don't know what I did. Just went out there."
Maybe it's because the Seahawks have been middling to this point, but we hadn't heard much from Sherman this season. This could obviously be our own faults because he's still playing like a No. 1 cornerback despite some less-than-significant aid from the other side of the field. But in a way, hearing him talk some smack again reminds us that there is a special player in Seattle, and even if his team isn't steamrolling opponents on the way to the Super Bowl -- I still believe they'll come close this year, by the way -- it doesn't make Sherman any less "elite."
On the broadcast Sunday, Sherman's lack of interceptions were mentioned after he hauled down a Ben Roethlisberger bomb to nowhere. The announcing team even said that they asked Sherman about it -- why he wasn't racking up picks like he used to. As a football community, I think we're smart enough to figure that out on our own.
Yes, Sherman has seen a few picks drop from his hands, but there have also been games, like the matchup against Green Bay in Week 2, where he was thrown at once -- because he's Richard Sherman.
There are some experts rounding up to discount his game against Brown, arguably the best receiver in football. Maybe the numbers can lie, but it's good to hear Sherman being Sherman again.