Delhomme able to laugh at himself, put rough day behind him

Delhomme able to laugh at himself, put rough day behind him
Quarterback anxious to get back on the field Sunday vs. Lions
Written by Steve Reed
11/12/2008 6:08:27 PM

http://www.carolinagrowl.com/Read.aspx?Story=852
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CHARLOTTE – Jake Delhomme can bust chops with the best of them. So if there’s anyone who can appreciate a little good-natured ribbing from his buddies, well, it’s him.

That’s why Delhomme was able to laugh at himself after some of his teammates suggested on the long flight home from Oakland Sunday night that he should be nominated for AFC Defensive Player of the Week after throwing four interceptions against the Raiders.

“It seemed like I could have won that award,” Delhomme said matter-of-factly while poking at himself on Wednesday. “Hey, they’re not afraid to tease me.”

It certainly helped lighten Delhomme’s mood considerably given how awful he felt after posting a career-worst quarterback rating of 13.2.

What made his performance a little easier to swallow – and allowed for the jokes to roll, one after another after another – is the Panthers managed to win pretty handily 17-6 behind a strong defensive effort led by NFC Player of the Week Julius Peppers.

“After you get a win it’s easy to joke about stuff like that,” Peppers said with a wide smile. “We can laugh about it now. Jake had a great day today (in practice). He’s looking good, so we expect him back.”

And, as tight end Jeff King said, “He dishes it out a lot more than he takes it, so he can take it a little bit.”

Delhomme isn’t too concerned about he calls “a rough day.”

Nor is his head coach John Fox.

When Fox was told some fans are calling for Delhomme to be benched with the Panthers at 7-2 and on a three-game winning streak, he just smiled and said, “It never ceases to amaze me – all aspects.”

Then he added, “I think we are a much better team with Jake than without Jake at quarterback.”

How soon people forget that Delhomme has won 49 of the 79 games he’s started for the Panthers, including a 5-2 mark in the playoffs.

But obviously he needs to play better than he did last week if the Panthers are to make any noise in the playoffs – and nobody knows that better than Delhomme.

He said the problem in the Raiders game wasn’t a matter of poor decision-making on his part, but rather poor execution.

Of his four interceptions, he would have looked a different way on only one of those passes, a second-quarter interception where he missed tight end Dante Rosario coming free.

“There is one decision I wish I had back. One. The rest, I just didn’t make good throws,” said Delhomme, who was 7-of-27 for 72 yards. “If I felt like I was making some awful decisions, I would be like, ‘What are you doing?’”

The bottom line is this: Delhomme had a bad day at the office, just like we all do from time to time.

His throws were off target. He missed a bunch of open receivers, including a potential long gainer to tight end Gary Barnidge. And, for the fifth time this season he had a pass bounce off a teammate’s hands and into the arms of a defender.

And, as King pointed out, he’s not the only one who played poorly.

“It wasn’t a very good day for all of us, the offense as a whole,” King said. “We have to take that. Give us the crappiest medal, or however you want to put it, we got it last week.”

Delhomme has had some clunkers before.

The reason he’s still starting is a testament to how well he’s responded to those hiccups.

“Certainly it wasn’t a good day,” Delhomme said. “I can laugh about it now because we were able to win. But certainly you have to learn from it. And then you have to move on. There are other days when you feel like you can do a lot right -- and those are the days when you better not feel like you’ve arrived because you’re going to get humbled.”

And humbled he was last Sunday.

“I have been in a situation where I have played some bad games and you have to move on,” Delhomme said. “You want to get back out there and play as quickly as possible. You want to get back out there and play ball and get a better taste in your mouth.”

What's nice for Delhomme is this week the Panthers host the 0-9 Detroit Lions, who own the 31st-ranked defense in the league. That means he'll have a chance to go from AFC Defensive Player of the Week to NFC Offensive Player of the Week in just seven days.

Delhomme said one thing is for sure – last Sunday’s game won’t affect his gunslinger mentality.

“That is one thing I will keep doing -- I won’t be hesitant to throw the ball,” he said.