NFL players and coaches spend many hours studying film of their upcoming opponents to find tendencies that can give them an advantage on Sunday. Bengals safety Jordan Battle found such a tendency with Sunday’s opponent, Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis.
For some reason, Battle decided to tell the press about it before the game, giving Willis and the Dolphins an opportunity to fix it before Sunday.
Battle told reporters in the Bengals’ locker room that Willis has a tell that lets the defense know when he’s about to throw the ball, so Battle and his fellow defensive backs can break on the ball a split-second earlier. Or at least they can if Willis doesn’t fix it, now that Battle blabbed.
“He has a little slight little tap before every throw though, so I feel like we could use that as a key to break on the ball,” Battle said. “He likes to tap the ball before he throws it, or he takes his hand off, and that that gives the read the break. He’s obviously dangerous with his feet. We know we’ve got to be alert for that. Third and longs, they will run quarterback draws, and in the passing game, he will extend plays. So we’ve got to be good downfield. DBs are plastering, so we got to be alert for that. He will take chances. We just got to be on, be alert on guys where they line up.”
Battle and the Bengals made a good observation in their film study. Battle’s coaches and teammates may be asking him why on earth he thought it was a good idea to broadcast that observation to the public before the game.
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