We had a chance to sit down with Jairus Byrd in the locker room after the Panthers 35-27 win over the New York Jets in which the Panthers defense allowed Josh McCown to throw for over 300 yards and three scores, including two long touchdowns to wide receiver Robby Anderson. Byrd was forced into the nickel cornerback role when Captain Munnerlyn did not make the trip due to illness, but he, along with the rest of the defense, did not feel as if they played up to their own high standards. Read his full thoughts on the game below:
On that scoop-and-score from Luke, how important is it to be able to score points on defense?
Oh, it’s huge. We’ve been saying, even before that play happened, that we needed to make a play on defense. And it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Is it nice to be able to lift the offense up when they’re maybe not playing at their best?
The way we look at it on defense is just that we have to do our job, and we expect to score and make plays on defense so really, we’re just worried about ourselves, and anything else is just a bonus or a plus. We know what our standard is on defense and that’s how we try to play.
You were playing some inside corner, is that something you’re familiar with?
No. It was something that, with injuries, you’ve just got to be ready. I’m here for whatever they need me to do and that was what I was asked to do for this week; I appreciate that they trusted me enough to put me out on the field in that position, so you’ve just got to make the best of it and do my job.
How would you rate the defensive performance today?
It wasn’t to our standard at all. We’ve got to go back and look at corrections that we need to make and fix it.
Obviously, there’s a big game coming up next week. Do you just move past this game and it’s on to the Saints?
Well, it’s not just on to the Saints. We’ve got to make sure we get in there and look at what we did wrong, to correct the mistakes, and then we’re going to move on to the Saints.
Is there anything personal for you, heading into the Saints game because it’s your former team?
I mean, it’s the next game. We’re in the division and it’s a division game, so it’s a big game. It’s not about me, it’s about our goal and what we’re trying to accomplish as a team. I think it’s a special team.
Any inside info about the Saints secondary you’re going to pass on to the rest of the team?
Oh, I don’t know, we’ll see. Maybe.
