Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

ATLANTA — A cornerback is only as good as his backpedal, and Los Angeles Rams Nickell Robey-Coleman’s was going in reverse on Monday at Super Bowl LIII Opening Night.
Robey-Coleman said his perceived insult of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was not that at all.
“I was asked a question about when I was in Buffalo,” Robey-Coleman said Monday. “The only thing I said was his age. I never said anything about he’s too old. … His age is the only thing that’s changed from there to here. His skills, his arm is still strong. He’s still the GOAT. He’s still a legend.”
Robey-Coleman might have already done the damage with his comments published this week.
“Age has definitely taken a toll,” Robey-Coleman was quoted as telling Bleacher Report. “For him to still be doing it, that’s a great compliment for him. But I think that he’s definitely not the same quarterback he was. Movement. Speed. Velocity. Arm strength. He still can sling it, but he’s not slinging it as much.
“Whatever he was doing — because of his age and all that — he’s not doing as much of that anymore. He’s still doing the same things; he’s just not doing as much of it. And sometimes, it’s not the sharpest. But it still gets done.”
Robey-Coleman saw Brady and the Patriots twice a year from 2013-16 when he was a member of the Buffalo Bills. He is in the second season with the Rams but hasn’t set aside his dislike of the Patriots.
“I’ve got Buffalo blood running through my veins, so you know I hate these guys,” Robey-Coleman was quoted as saying in the Bleacher Report piece. “I naturally hate them. I never liked New England.”
Robey-Coleman has had an eventful postseason. He wasn’t penalized for either of two fouls on one late fourth-quarter play — pass interference or helmet-to-helmet hit — in the controversial finish to the NFC Championship Game, when the Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints.
Robey-Coleman blasted Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis right as the ball arrived with no call being made. He was later fined $26,739 for the helmet-to-helmet hit.
“I got a no call — I looked around a little bit,” Robey-Coleman said with a chuckle. “L.A., they’re showing me so much love. I just focus on the task at hand. That’s New England.”
The 27-year-old Robey-Coleman has six career interceptions in 95 regular-season games (20 starts).
Brady has completed 71.1 percent of his passes this postseason for 691 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He has won five Super Bowl rings with the Patriots.
–Field Level Media