Las Vegas Raiders: Damon Arnette playing hard through mistakes
Arnette is the physical corner Jon Gruden was hoping for
Arnette has also shown that he can handle the physicality of the NFL by sticking his nose in to tackles, and not being afraid of making tackles in the open field. He racked up five tackles combined against Carolina, and topped that with seven solo tackles against New Orleans.
One of the reasons Mike Mayock was so high on Arnette coming out of Ohio State was because the Raiders were looking for a tough, physical corner, and he certainly fits the bill.
The rookie acknowledges that he has room to grow as a player and said as much in a post-game press conference, as quoted by Raiders.com:
"“I’d say I’ve played hard, I’d say I’ve played with a lot of energy, effort. There’s a lot of things to improve on, but the good I did do helped my teammates, so I’m not complaining about that. There’s always room to get better and it’s just the second game, so it can only get better from here.” Source: Raiders.com"
Any coach will tell you that mistakes are to be expected and can be forgiven especially for a rookie, but what can’t be forgiven is a lack of effort. The Raiders chose to start the season with two very young starters at cornerback and mistakes will be expected, especially from Arnette, but he has proven that he is not scared of the moment and will always play with intensity and effort.
Next up for Arnette is a date with Cam Newton and the New England Patriots who don’t feature a top tier receiver so it may not be as difficult an assignment as guarding Robby Anderson or Tre’Quan Smith. He will however have to make sure his helmet is strapped on tight so he can take down Netwon when the dual threat QB is out in the open field. Something tells us he’ll do just fine.