SAFETY JOB RECLAIMED BY CROCKER
Experience, intelligence keep veteran in key role

By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER     
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/28/07

Flowery Branch -- With all of the recent distractions surrounding the Falcons, little attention was paid to return of free safety Chris Crocker. His competition with second-year player Jimmy Williams to retain his position was one of the highlights of training camp. But in the third exhibition game, Crocker went down with a badly bruised knee. The Falcons opened the season with Williams at free safety, and he performed well. But once Crocker returned to good health, he was immediately sent back on the field. "Chris won the job," Falcons coach Bobby Petrino said. "They competed, and they both got a lot of reps in the preseason. He was the starter, and he came back healthy." Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer worked extensively with Williams during the preseason on making the conversion from cornerback to safety. But Crocker had too much of a lead built on five years of experience. "Intelligence, communications, he's got some quickness and good coverage ability," Zimmer said when asked what Crocker brings to the unit. Crocker played a big role in shutting down Carolina's passing attack. The Falcons rolled coverages to focus on wide receiver Steve Smith and tried to take away the deep pass. Last season, Crocker had to shoulder some of the blame for blown coverages on deep passes. Sunday, Carolina's longest pass was a 38-yarder that Keary Colbert made a nice catch on against tight coverage by cornerback Chris Houston. "I felt like Coach put me in some good positions," Crocker said. "He gives me an opportunity to try to use my skills to best fit this defense." Smith was held to one catch for 10 yards. While Williams was solid in his two starts, Crocker delivered some hard shots on his six tackles, which included a sack. "I felt good being back out on the field," Crocker said. It was important for Crocker, who's in the last year of his contract, to win the starting job. By starting he could prove his worth to the Falcons and perhaps stick around to help develop Williams and rookie safety Daren Stone. "I really felt like it was going to be a good competition," Crocker said. "It just pushes players. It makes you go out there and work harder, but there really wasn't any concern that I was going to lose my spot. I'm confident in my ability. ... I knew that as long as I went out there and did what I was supposed to do that things would take care of itself." While the defense is focusing on stopping the run after giving up 175 yards to Carolina, Crocker still wants the secondary to hold down the passing yards. The unit's familiarity with former teammate Matt Schaub is a plus. "It helps a little bit, but Schaubie is playing very well," Crocker said. "He's the same quarterback he was when he was here. He's getting rid of the ball, trying not to take sacks, rolling out and getting outside the pocket a lot." Crocker is aware that Schaub is completing 75.9 percent (63-of-83) of his passes. "He's been very good for their offense," Crocker said. "He's just been very efficient, and he doesn't make many mistakes. That allows them to keep the game close. In the game last week I think he was 26 of 33 [actually 27-of-33]; it was something ridiculous. That just shows you that the guy can really throw the ball." Schaub will be without his top receiver Andre Johnson (knee) and standout rookie receiver Jacoby Jones (shoulder), and running back Ahman Green (knee) is questionable. Against the Colts, Schaub completed passes to 10 receivers. "He's going to come in here and try to do the same thing," Crocker said. "He's going to try to get the ball out of his hands." Crocker is counting on Schaub to test the run defense first. "Teams are starting to kind of lick their chops, saying they can come in here and run the ball on us," Crocker said. "We're just going to have to stop it."

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