Telvin Smith Isn’t Buying the Patriots Praise

This story is a lot like the Tide Pods craze, wish it was fake but it isn’t.  Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith believes that the New England Patriots are giving them “fake praise” after many of the Patriots are calling this AFC Championship Game “The toughest one yet.” but Smith isn’t buying it.

Bruh this the oldest trick…pump us up in the media but in the buildin I kno what’s really bein said. ✊🏿Respect 🐐 https://t.co/1I0954GF8C

— Telvin Smith (@TelvinSmith_22) January 16, 2018

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone complaining about getting praise from opposing players.  Which begs the question, is this a stretch?  Or does he have a point?

The Patriots aren’t idiotic like the Steelers and willfully give you grade A bulletin board material like Le’Veon Bell did with this tweet:

I love round 2’s…we’ll have two round 2’s in back to back weeks…

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) January 14, 2018

But he does kind of have a point.  This sort of stuff happens every week, you just don’t see players calling other players out on it.  I mean, do you really mean to tell me that every time the Patriots play teams like the Jets or the Bills or even the Browns that they’re ACTUALLY afraid of them?  Do you sincerely believe when Brady and Belichick or anyone in the Patriots organization gets up to the podium, they truly are in awe of those joke franchises?  You know full well that when the cameras aren’t on, the players (and probably some coaches) are talking so much crap it’s not even funny.

However; this is a stretch.  They’re just looking for literally anything to get them going, to get them fired up to shock the world on Sunday.  And the Patriots know this and they know that this team fuels itself on disrespect.  Not many people believed that the Jaguars would even sniff a winning season, let alone the AFC Championship game.  Luckily for Pats fans, the Patriots know to avoid falling into this trap and to keep following the “Patriot Way.”

But can you really blame Smith for trying though?  He knows that the Patriots won’t fall into this trap and the Jags are looking for any sort of motivation possible.  And I’m pretty sure that this Jaguars team knows that the Patriots aren’t overlooking them like the Steelers did last week in the divisional round.  Good attempt on Smith’s part but it fell short, the Jags are going to need a perfect game this week (especially in the red zone) if they want to compete with the Pats.  Focus on the game, not the trash talk because if you don’t focus on the game, the Patriots already have you beat.

Written By: Brian Berard (@RockyBerard)