IRVING, Texas – Just like he did for three hours-plus on Sunday, Brandon Carr stood there and took it.
On Monday, he knew the media wanted to know his thoughts of his battle with Calvin Johnson, who produced 329 receiving yards, the second-most in NFL history.
Carr was matched up with Johnson most of the day and obviously lost the overall battle. More importantly, it led to the Cowboys losing the game, 31-30 in the final seconds.
So will that game affect Carr's confidence?
"No. You know what I've been through to get here?" Carr said with a smile. "Just from childhood until now, I've been through so much, so many obstacles, struggles, things thrown at me, people saying I couldn't do this, couldn't do that. I just get up each and every day, put my shoes on and go to work. I knew I had a big challenge (Monday) and I was ready for it. I'm always up for these challenges, this is what you play for, like I said, I learned a lot for myself within that game. Some things I could have done differently, some things I was proud of myself for doing. At the end of the day, I stood in there and I fought and that's all you can ask for."
In fact, Carr said that game might even help him.
"I'm going to get better as time goes, we're going to get better as a unit, but it definitely hasn't shaken my confidence," Carr said. "It might have boosted it, it might sound crazy, but I learn from games like that. It's time to move on and go on again."
Carr has been one of the Cowboys' most consistent cornerbacks this year, along with Orlando Scandrick, who wasn't a viable option to cover Johnson because of the height mismatch. Morris Claiborne went down with a hamstring injury and didn't return, leaving rookie B.W. Webb to play the rest of the game.
Carr knew he was the only real option to face Johnson, from start to finish.
"I knew going on what the challenge was," Carr said. "That's part of it. He's a great player and he played great."
And while Dez Bryant had a pair of heated exchanges on the sidelines with players and media, Carr also had one at the end of the game, following the Lions' go-ahead touchdown.
While Carr's incident wasn't caught by the Fox cameras, the cornerback chalked it up to part of the emotions of the game. [embedded_ad]
"That's what it is. We're out here, we prepare so hard and train, not just during the week but throughout the process of the season and you get out here to these games and you put everything on the line, putting everything at stake – your name, this team, the organization – and for it to come down like that, it doesn't sit well," Carr said. "And it shouldn't sit well with anyone that you get down to the end of the game and another way you couldn't find a way to win the game, or couldn't get over that hump, couldn't close it out, and that's when the emotions come out.
"You just have to move on, just flush it from your system. There are going to be emotions in this game … you just learn from everything that happens to you both on and off the field."
