OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens cornerback Shareece Wright has been beaten for five touchdowns in the past three games, drawing the ire of fans on social media.
One tweeted that it's probably not an exaggeration that every first down and touchdown given up by the Ravens this season has been against Wright. Countless others have called for the Ravens to bench Wright or outright cut him.
Wright has a unique perspective on the negative backlash from fans.
"I prefer the hate," he said. "It’s like fake love in a sense. When you’re doing well, everybody loves you. But as soon as you’re doing bad, everybody hates you. You learn that. I learned that early."
No one on the NFL's top-ranked defense has felt the extremes of love and hate than Wright. In the season opener, Wright made a career-high 11 tackles and received the game ball. Since then, it's like Wright has a bull's-eye on his back.
In his past three games, Wright has allowed 16 receptions for 205 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Of the nine touchdowns given up over that span, Wright has been responsible for more than half of them.
"It doesn’t matter what the people in the stands or what the people at home are saying," Wright said. "They’ve never been in this situation. They’ve never played football a day in their life, saying what they would’ve done or what they can do better. So why would their opinion matter to me? It doesn’t mean anything."
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees wouldn't put all the blame on Wright, saying team might have to do a better job in putting him in not-so-tough situations. But Pees also didn't guarantee Wright would start Sunday against Washington, which has proven receivers in DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon.
"What we do is we always assess at the end of the week who is playing the best at that position, and that’s the guy that’s going to play," Pees said. "Nobody has security anywhere."
The Ravens' other options to play outside cornerback are Sheldon Price and Will Davis.
"It’s so easy to say, 'Take this guy and put somebody else in,'" Pees said. "Everybody that’s saying that isn’t out here all week watching our practice and assessing the other guy that they want us to put in. So, the guy out here in practice is terrible, but we’re supposed to put him in because somebody wants the other guy in?"
The Ravens re-signed Wright to a three-year, $16 million deal in March (included $5 million guaranteed) because he was one of Baltimore's most consistent players in the second half of last season. According to Pro Football Focus, Wright allowed 132 yards passing in his first game and gave up just 256 yards passing in his last 10.
So, Wright proved in 2015 that he can rebound after struggling.
"It’s just one of those things where you’ve just got to respond well and just be positive about it and don’t lose that confidence," Wright said. "It’s not a physical thing where I can’t play or I can’t run. It’s not like I can’t play or I’m not good enough. It’s just more of a ... mentality and just being in the moment, being in the situation like in a game where it’s a critical situation."
Does Wright worry about getting benched?
"You open up the door for that when you’re giving up plays like that, and you’re just hoping they don’t lose that hope in you," he said. "The great thing about it is, I’ve been through this before, and I’ve proven that I can overcome things like this. As long as they don’t give up on me, I’m not going to give up on myself or this team."