Edge rusher T.J. Watt finished Week 8 with 2 sacks, including one that led to a fumble. Watt also recovered the fumble and posted 7 combined tackles for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But New York Giants right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor wasn’t all that impressed with Watt’s performance.
At least he didn’t sound very impressed when he received questions about Watt while appearing on WFAN Radio on October 29.
When radio host Sal Licata asked about what makes Watt so difficult to block one-on-one, Eluemunor declined saying anything complimentary about the Steelers edge rusher. He then added Watt didn’t do anything in the Steelers victory.
“I was on an island with him for a majority of the game, and he didn’t do a damn thing. So, I’m not gonna sit here and fricking sing his praises,” said Eluemunor.
“I’m not like that, and I never will be.”
There’s something to be said about Eluemunor’s “old school” mentality of never giving an opponent satisfaction. Overall, he also played a solid game versus Watt, as he, more or less stated.
But as Watt has a knack for doing, he beat Eluemunor and recorded a sack fumble in the fourth quarter when the Giants were trying to put together a game-tying touchdown drive.
Jermaine Eluemunor Didn’t Have Help on T.J. Watt Before Pivotal Sack Fumble
Eluemunor not having any complimentary words about Watt on October 29 came a few days after he publicly urged the Giants to leave him in one-on-one situations against Watt.
“I’m the most confident guy in this locker room,” Eluemunor told the media on October 24. “I think you can see that through my play this year. I want to be on an island with him all day.”
With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, the Giants didn’t intended to leave Eluemunor on an island against Watt. But that’s what happened, and it backfired.
“We had a shift with the tight end to get back over to Watt and we didn’t get the shift,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll told the media after the game. “We talked about it. DJ feels terrible. He was kind of surveying the coverage, deciding what he wanted to do and we didn’t get the shift.’’
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones confirmed Watt’s strip sack was his fault.
“I needed to shift,” he said. “Theo [Johnson] was looking at the coverage, and I didn’t shift him and [Eluemunor] expected me chip, and he didn’t get that. That’s my fault.”
It’s pretty ironic Eluemunor expecting help versus Watt and not getting it was the downfall of a potential Giants comeback versus the Steelers. After all, the right tackle touted that he wanted to face the 4-time All-Pro one-on-one the entire game.
To Eluemunor’s credit, though, he accepted blame for the strip sack as well.
“I was expecting one thing, but also, me being the tackle I know I am and the player I want to become, I need to be able to make adjustments on the fly like that and realize things quicker,” he said. “If I’m expecting a chip, and I don’t get that, even against T.J. Watt, I need to be able to adjust to that.”
J.J. Watt Does the Smack Talking for His Brother
Watt admitted after the game that he saw Eluemunor’s pre-game comments that he wanted the “island” against him. But the Steelers edge rusher didn’t address the Giants right tackle specifically in any other manner.
Instead, Watt’s older brother, 3-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, did the trash talking.
J.J. trolled Eluemunor right after his brother recorded the strip sack that essentially ended the Giants hope of a comeback in Week 8.
Week 8 was Watt’s first game this season with 2 sacks. Through eight games, he has 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 14 quarterback hits and a league-high 4 forced fumbles.
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Giants RT Takes Shot at Steelers’ T.J. Watt: Not Going to ‘Sing His Praises’