EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The passes kept coming his way. For a cornerback, seeing the ball repeatedly isn't a good thing.
Xavier Rhodes, the Minnesota Vikings' second-year cornerback, knew he was being targeted on Sunday by the New England Patriots. New England quarterback Tom Brady wasn't needed for the Patriots to post a 30-7 victory Sunday. Brady only attempted 22 passes in the game.
Rhodes saw seven of them come his way.
"I just have to make plays," Rhodes said Monday. "I would say yeah (they were targeting him). There were times I lined up against (Julian) Edelman and they just threw the ball at me."
The frustration started to come. Along with giving up several big plays, Rhodes was hit with three penalties. Rhodes ended up with five tackles in the game but he allowed four catches to Edelman, New England's small, but shifty receiver. Of Edelman's 81 yards receiving in the game, 73 were against Rhodes.
One of the big plays, when the game hadn't turned completely in the Patriots' favor was a 44-yard catch by Edelman early in the second quarter. Rhodes jammed the smaller Edelman at the line of scrimmage, but lost him in coverage. Rhodes' last-ditch effort was a dive to try and knock the pass away.
Rhodes at 6-foot-1 had the size advantage on the 5-foot-10 Edelman. And Rhodes wasn't lost in coverage because of Edelman's agility or speed. Many times Rhodes was where he needed to be. Only, Rhodes was called twice for pass interference and once for defensive holding. The holding call was declined as Edelman caught a 12-yard pass.
"Obviously we don't want penalties defensively, but the good thing is, if you want to take a positive out of that, is that we were pretty darn close to the receivers on all these situations," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. "Now we got to keep perfecting the technique of, not only being in the right place and contesting catches, but not committing fouls."
Rhodes has become one of Zimmer's projects. The 2013 first-round pick is talented and has the ability to become Minnesota's top cover cornerback. There are still parts of his game to fine-tune, such as his physicality in coverage.
"It was 50-50," Rhodes said of the penalties called Sunday. "You believe you're in great position, playing the ball, you're playing the receiver, but I guess in the referee's eyes it was different."
The website ProFootballFocus.com shows Rhodes has been targeted nine times in two games. He's allowed five catches for 90 yards, according to the site's data.
Rhodes, who dealt with an injury last week, played 63 of the 65 defensive snaps.
The calls Sunday admittedly frustrated the 24-year-old Rhodes. Veteran cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said he's had to try and calm down the emotional Rhodes.
"You get frustrated," Rhodes said. "Sometimes it gets you out of your game and you start second-guessing your technique and what you should do. Situation like that, you just got to believe in yourself and believe in the technique."
Did Munnerlyn have to calm him down Sunday?
"After all those penalties, yes," Rhodes said, smiling.
Zimmer and Rhodes both believe a momentary lapse won't shake the cornerback's confidence. Rhodes will be needed to make Zimmer's defense work and Rhodes will be on the spot again this week when Minnesota faces Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints receivers.
"I don't think he has any confidence issues," Zimmer said. "There's a very fine line between pass interference and covering a guy close. The thing that he did (Sunday) on most all of those situations, we talk a lot around here about having contested catches and making sure the guys in there. Sometimes you're going to get those things."
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