TAMPA — The Baltimore Ravens might believe the easiest way to get the football through the air Monday night against the Bucs is to pass cornerback Tyrek Funderburk.
The Appalachian State recruit made his first appearance on defense in the NFL in the second quarter of Tampa Bay’s 51-27 victory Sunday at New Orleans.
The undrafted free agent was the player the Bucs turned to when starter Jamel Dean suffered a hamstring injury. Funderburk also gave up his first touchdown — a 10-yard pass from rookie Spencer Rattler to Saints receiver Bub Means.
“Before my first play, Coach (Todd) Bowles called me and said, ‘Just play your game.’ Be confident,” Funderburk said.
Aside from the touchdown, Funderburk played well, recording four tackles and forcing a fumble.
“He had big eyes on the sidelines,” co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote said. “As a coach, you kind of want to be cool and not scare them. But all the young people are baptized in this league. We knew he was smart, and he had a good training camp for us and he’s going to grow.
“My main message was: ‘Welcome to the club. This won’t be the (last) touchdown you give up. Just keep swinging. This must be at your disposal. You need to have a short-term memory.
Dean is expected to miss the game against the Ravens, meaning Funderburk will likely make his first NFL start against two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson.
The quarterback puts a lot of pressure on any defense with his ability to pass and run the football. In addition to passing for 1,529 yards and 10 touchdowns with just two interceptions, Jackson is the Ravens’ second-leading rusher behind Derrick Henry with 402 yards and two touchdowns.
Yet Funderburk seizes this opportunity.
“In terms of challenges, I don’t think there have been many,” he said. “I think it’s just the speed of the game, it happens a lot faster and being able to understand new things that are coming at you. It’ll be a pretty routine thing to see the rest of this match. So you just have to be able to figure things out on the fly.
Funderburk was surprised the Saints didn’t pursue him more after allowing the touchdown pass.
“I think it was more of a rookie deal (with Rattler),” Funderburk said. “He’s a rookie, so he doesn’t know. “I should probably try the other rookie.” He just entered the game. Those were the first snaps of the season.
“It gives me confidence, especially before Monday evening.”
On the touchdown pass, Funderburk was beaten off the line of scrimmage and had interior leverage on Means. But he was caught looking in the backfield, and it cost him.
“I tried to tell him about my experiences, what my rookie year was like,” third-year cornerback Zyon McCollum said. “…Most importantly, play a good game, try to be as aggressive as possible, obviously understanding what you can’t give up. The most important thing I told him was to stay on your feet when tackling and play aggressively. That was about it.
After giving up the touchdown, that’s what Funderburk did. It helped that he had safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead behind him.
“It’s huge,” Funderburk said. “Antoine and J-White, they told me what to do, even if I knew what to do. Just an alert.
After the game, Funderburk fielded phone calls and text messages from family and friends who witnessed his first NFL defensive action.
“My phone definitely blew up,” he said. “My high school coach. College coaches. School teammates. Family, of course. My family was super excited. They just sit there, no matter how much I play, they don’t care. They’re just trying to support our team. But obviously once we got there it was huge and I’m extremely excited.
Bowles knows how explosive the Ravens offense can be. But he saw enough of Funderburk against the Saints to know he can trust him to step up again.
“I thought he did well,” Bowles said. “Obviously he learned a lot while he was there, but he settled in and played football for us and he was in the right place. I know he got beat for the touchdown – his eyes were in the wrong place – but I thought he played well. I thought he wasn’t too scared at the moment, and that he would only get better.
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