Carlos Rogers is happy and excited to be playing for the San Francisco 49ers.
Rogers spent his first six NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins and was often criticized for dropping a lot of easy would be interceptions. During his time in Washington DC, Rogers never recorded more then two interceptions in a season. He only tallied eight total interceptions as a Redskin.
“It’s so funny, because I’ve dropped a lot of picks and now guys are just expecting me to have a pick,” Rogers said. “That’s crazy. But my whole thing is, I just go into every game thinking play assignment free, play with confidence and just take advantage of all my opportunities. If a pick comes, it comes. I just need to be there and make the play.”
Rogers has clearly found a home with the 49ers by grabbing an interception in each of the past three games.
Rogers credits 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio for his turnaround.
“Guys listen to him. We prepare well, and he lets you play,” said Rogers. “He lets you be you. He knows the strength of each player, knows what he can do good, knows the weaknesses, and this team is hungry to win. This defense just getting after it, the way we are, can’t ask for a better coach than that. You barely see guys that are like that.”
Rogers is also enjoying the stability of the 49ers organization opposed to the way things weree with the Redskins. Last season he knew it was time to leave DC for a fresh start.
“After that it was coach Jim Zorn. He didn’t really run our team. Guys were able to run over him. Guys were able to get what they wanted by going to ownership,” Rogers explained. “After that, coach Shanahan, [he] is a good coach, but my mindset then, by the time he came in, I was just ready to leave. Being that I was there, I think we only re-signed Chris Samuels, and we re-signed Chris Cooley, I mean which they deserved it, but everybody else were new guys they brought in. It wasn’t guys that we drafted that we re-signed. So I’m thinking like, ‘Once it comes to my turn, I’m not going to be here anyway.’ So I was just ready to leave. My whole mindset was just get out of Washington, just get a fresh start. I’m always compared to what Shawn Springs does. What Fred Smoot does. What DeAngelo Hall does, and I just couldn’t be Carlos. Even though you hear fans say, ‘You’re the better corner. You’re this. You don’t give up this. You’re that.’ But I still didn’t feel that way from inside with our coaches, just always a comparison,” Rogers said. “As a player you usually get tired of that. You want something fresh.”
Rogers is happy that he can be himself and not be compared to anyone else.
“With this team, they just let me be me,” he said. “They just let me play. I think right now just playing at a level that I know I can play at, and I just look back at how things are just like college. I’m back to my Auburn days. I’m having fun.”
The 49ers signed Rogers to a one year deal in the offseason. If he keeps playing this well, they might need to reward him with a nice contract extension.
Follow PFZ on Twitter @ProFootballZone