When Ronald Darby, the Broncos’ initial starter at cornerback across from Pat Surtain, tore his ACL halfway through the Week 5 game against the Colts, rookie Damarri Mathis subbed in and quickly learned how tough life in the NFL can be.
Mathis allowed a catch each of the nine times he was targeted.
“As a corner, you’ve gotta have that next-play mentality,” Mathis told DNVR.
With Darby out of the picture, the fourth-round draft pick out of Pittsburgh earned the first start of his career the next week against the Los Angeles Chargers. Once again, he struggled.
Mathis was called for four pass-interference penalties in the game. Only two other players in the NFL have been called for four total pass interferences this season.
“A lot of those calls were questionable to me, but I just tried to keep playing hard,” Mathis said. “I was able to make a couple of other plays.”
Since then, the 23-year-old has turned his rookie season around.
Mathis has allowed a 90.4 passer rating when the ball is thrown in his direction. League average is 90.1. For a rookie, hovering around league average is a good place to be.
But over the past five weeks, Mathis has taken another step. He hasn’t allowed a single touchdown and that passer rating allowed has dropped to 75.5.
“He put that game (against the Chargers) aside, and he’s done nothing but grow from that game and that day, all the way up until now,” head coach Nathaniel Hackett said. “He’s played aggressive, and he’s played smart, and we’re excited to see him continually develop.”
Last week, against the Cardinals, Mathis faced one of the most diversely talented receiving groups in the NFL. Marquise Brown is a former first-round pick and one of the speediest wideouts in the game. AJ Green is a seven-time Pro Bowler as a 6-foot-4 bully. And DeAndre Hopkins is a do-it-all receiver who may have a claim as the top receiver in the game.
“He’s been playing in this league for a while, and he’s been playing at a high level,” Mathis said of Hopkins. “He catches almost everything. He makes some crazy catches. That’s his strong suit; wherever the ball is, he’s going to try to get it.”
But none of those receivers caught a pass against Mathis on Sunday, making the Cardinals game the first shutout of Mathis’ career.
Mathis also came within a step of his first career interception.
For some rookies, lining up across from some of the league’s top receivers could be as tough mentally as it is physically. Mathis grew up watching Hopkins and Green on TV, but felt natural stepping in front of them. He wasn’t starstruck by Travis Kelce or Davante Adams or any of the other receivers he’s faced this season, either.
“I’m just going through the motions,” Mathis said. “When people bring that to my attention I’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s true.’ But I just try to stay focused.”
Pat Surtain, Mathis’ partner on the other side of the field, has been impressed by the rookie.
“He’s gotten better with his preparation,” he said. “You can tell throughout each and every week, he’s gotten out there and he’s gotten more confident. You can just tell by his play and the way that he carries himself, he’s just getting more confident out there as the weeks go on. Once you see that in a rookie, you know that the sky is the limit for him.”
With three weeks left in the season, Mathis has a chance to put a stranglehold on his starting job. The Broncos can save $10 million by moving on from Ronald Darby this offseason, and Mathis is playing his best ball of the season. Three more strong outings could earn him a spot as the penciled-in starter next training camp.
