Quiet as kept James Bradberry is becoming one of the most solid corners in the NFL. The Panthers quiet third-year cornerback, dubbed “The Silent Assassin” by quarterback Cam Newton, has faced the league’s top receivers week after week and has built up a solid resume for himself.
Bradberry has found himself across from Julio Jones, AJ Green, Odell Beckham, Jr., and Mike Evans. The road doesn’t get too much easier from Bradberry from here on out as the team heads to Pittsburgh after a short week to take on Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown for a Thursday Night Football showdown.
Before discussing the match up between Bradberry and Brown, it would almost be considered neglect of civic duty not to discuss the clamps Bradberry put on Mike Evans in the Panthers 42-28 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Evans came into the game with 770 receiving yards and four touchdowns on the season. Given the Bucs pass-happy offensive scheme, what Bradberry was able to do is truly impressive.
Despite being targeted ten times, the most on the team, Evans was limited to just one catch for 16 yards. While Bradberry may not have the stats of his loquacious teammate Donte Jackson, his solid performances have not gone unnoticed by head coach Ron Rivera. Rivera felt that Sunday’s game was one of Bradberry’s best this season.
‘It was one of them. It really was one of them. He did some really good things and really was pleased with the effort we got from James [Bradberry]. It was as solid as it gets.”
Asked about Sunday’s game being a statement game, Bradberry confirms that it is.
“Sending out, pretty much a message to the rest of the receivers that I’m gonna be facing the rest of the year that I’m pretty good myself too.”
Getting Bradberry to self-compliment is rare but he will need that confidence going into the second half of the season. After a short week of preparation, Bradberry will be tasked with slowing down Antonio Brown. Brown enters Thursday night’s game with 594 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. Flip the page to hear Bradberry talk about his status as a shut down corner.
