Sometimes getting thrown into the fire means mistakes will be made. Learning from those mistakes is imperative for development. For Indianapolis Colts rookie cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, this is one of those moments.
Through seven games, Ya-Sin has been solid. He’s had his share of rookie moments, but he’s made up for them. The same cannot be said about him in Sunday’s loss against the Denver Broncos.
It was a bad outing that combined undisciplined play (five penalties) with struggles in man coverage against wide receiver Courtland Sutton.
Even as the Temple product struggled, head coach Frank Reich is confident he will learn from the rough outing in Week 8.
“Yeah, I mean I give (Courtland) Sutton a lot of credit. That’s a good receiver. (Joe) Flacco throws a great deep ball. He throws a great deep ball,” Reich said after the game. “Rock had whatever, four penalties. That’s not a good day. He’ll learn from it. Like you said, it’s just learning (in your) rookie year. He’s been playing great for us. He’s been playing great football. So he’ll learn from this and get better.”
The Colts have immense confidence in Ya-Sin. He’s played at least 90% of the defensive snaps in each of the last four games. With veteran Pierre Desir inactive due to a hamstring injury, this gave Ya-Sin another chance to develop.
Sometimes, development comes from struggling. Ya-Sin’s worst part of the day didn’t even come with getting beaten by Sutton. It came in the five penalties.
The rookie was called for three defensive holdings and two on defensive pass interference. All of them came against Sutton. Some merits of the calls could be argued, but a rookie isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt.
Regardless, the Colts will continue to throw Ya-Sin out there to compete with some big-name wide receivers. Whether his development will come through success or struggles, the Colts are expecting him to learn from this outing against the Broncos and come out on the other side.
