When will these guys learn to keep their mouths shut?
Last week it was Julius Jones of the Seattle Seahawks taking about giving the Giants a "punch in the mouth."
This week, it's Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Corey Williams. Here is what he had to say, in two separate interviews.
"His (Brandon Jacobs) whole thing is, if you let him come out and get a 7- or 8-yard run, get his confidence level up high, then he can be effective," Williams told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "But if we can come out and hit him in the mouth from the jump, he tends to slow down and do some tiptoeing. You've got to swarm him, swarm to the ball."
There is more.
"I'm gonna try to knock his (Jacobs) head off. You know what I'm saying?" Williams told the Canton Repository. "His whole attitude is to knock our head off when he's running the ball. I'm trying to get him before he gets me. He's a pretty good overall running back, but once you go to putting that wood on him, go to really hitting him ... he'll start tiptoeing, shutting it down."
That would be Corey Williams of the Browns, the 22nd-ranked team in the league against the run, talking trash about Jacobs and the best rushing attack in the league. Probably not the smartest thing he has ever done.
It was instructive that Jacobs did not fire back. It speaks both to his growth as a player, and to the fact that on-field success like the Giants have had carries more weight than words.
"There's a bunch of yap that just doesn't really need to be going on," Jacobs said. "Now, my rookie year I would've been here saying a bunch of stuff. I'm an older guy now. I've been around the league a little bit. I got a ring now. I'm certified, so I'm not going to sit up here and have a mouth match with these guys." ...
"No question, I probably would've tried to tap him on the shoulder at some point and be like, 'See, I told you,' " Jacobs said. "That's not me anymore. I'm just going to go out and play football."
We will see if Williams is still talking Monday night.