Week 6 was tough for Troy Hill.
Yes, the Rams beat the Broncos. But the 27-year-old cornerback was beat deep on a few plays in the 23-20 victory.
That prompted questions to coaches and Hill himself about the cornerback's play, to which Hill responded, "You're playing football out there and at the end of the day, you just got to go out there and execute as a pro, and that's the only thing I'm thinking about doing right now."
Head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips continued to express how they had confidence in the fourth-year cornerback, too.
That trust and belief was rewarded on Sunday, when Hill came through with a key interception midway through the second quarter — the first pick of his career.
On 1st-and-10 from the San Francisco 49, Hill lined up opposite wide receiver Marquise Goodwin on the defense's left side of the field. When Goodwin made his cut for an intermediate in-breaking route, Hill got a terrific break and stepped right where quarterback C.J. Beathard was trying to get the ball to Goodwin and caught it instead. With inside linebacker Cory Littleton running over to Hill to make sure he got up and ran, Hill then gained seven yards to the L.A. 40 on the interception return.
"I thought I was down because he kind of hit me, but then Cory was like, 'get up, get up,'" Hill said, describing the play. "Then he was trying to wrestle for the ball, so I was trying to get the ball, so I got up and just kept running."
Still, it was a quality play that set Los Angeles up for points to extend its lead to 22-0. And it illustrated exactly how Hill has the ability to bounce back.
"That's one of the things that I pride myself on — just always think about the next play because if you stay in the pass that's when your job starts happening and you're just getting bombed," Hill said. "I got to thank my coaches and teammates for having that confidence in me, too, so I want to give them thanks because they made it a lot easier too. Just trying to keep staying consistent."
And even though Hill is mainly living up to his own expectations when he goes out and makes those kinds of plays, he admitted Sunday's game took "a big weight off my shoulders."
"But," he continued, "like I said, I know what I'm capable of — I just need to stick to my technique. Looking at the film from last week, it was a lot of bad eyes and stuff like that. Today was more so just come out there and play my technique and let the game come to me. So, like I said, I know what I'm capable of and in this league, you're going to get hit — guys are going to catch the ball on you — it's just all about how you respond."
The Rams take on the 49ers at Levi's Stadium in Week 7.
