Last year, cornerback Byron Maxwell was the Legion of Boom’s Ringo Starr. This year, Maxwell is getting beaten with his own silver hammer in Philly.
But the man who signed a $63 million deal in the offseason is undeterred by the criticism inherent to playing for a Philadelphia team, and not playing well. (The $63 million helps.) As he prepares to try to cover Jets receiver Brandon Marshall this week, Maxwell explains that his upbringing allows him to deal with hostility.
“Everything’s in your face in the South,” Maxwell told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “That’s how it is in the South. They got Confederate flags running around. . . . I’m just saying. You’re used to sh-t. You grow up with a thick skin in the South.”
He may need even thicker skin if he continues to surrender a perfect passer rating of 158.3 to those who throw his way.
“That’s part of being the guy with the big contract and being the big free agent coming in,” Maxwell said. “I haven’t performed up to it, but it’s a new week against the Jets. I get to play again.”
He may not get to play much longer, if he doesn’t eventually improve. His contract is, essentially, a two-year, $25 million deal. With only $3 million of his $10 million salary in 2017 guaranteed, he’ll likely be gone after 2016 absent significant improvement.