San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie(notes) sat down for a chat with NFL.com recently, and while he’s not a man of many words, the words he does use usually express a high degree of cockiness. Here’s a sampling:

When asked if his job would become easier if Brandon Marshall(notes) were to be traded:

"My job is already easy, to tell you the truth. It's really not hard to do, even if [Brandon Marshall] didn't get traded"

When asked about the Chiefs' passing game this year:

"They never had a passing game. They don't even have Gonzalez."

When asked who he would date, if given a choice of Ciara, Beyonce, or Keri Hilson:

"None, they are too uppity."

When asked about the best cornerback in the NFL:

"I think I'm the best. If you match up next to Nnamdi from the Raiders, us two are the best."

When asked about playing in front of Oakland fans:

"It's boring in the Black Hole."

When asked about covering Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe(notes):

"Dwayne Bowe only has two catches on me in two years, so I've never had a hard time against him."

So if you’re a fan of any AFC West team other than the Chargers, there’s probably something in there to offend you. No one can accuse Antonio Cromartie of playing favorites. He believes he is great, and that everyone else sucks.

Which is usually a perfectly acceptable attitude for an NFL corner. It’s a position that requires a high degree of confidence, and you could argue that that everyone should believe they’re the best. The issue with Antonio Cromartie believing that, though, is that he was not very good last year.

He did play through a hip injury, but still, poor play is poor play. The number two corner spot is one of the big question marks for the Chargers in 2009, and Cromartie just upped the wattage of the spotlight that’s placed directly on him. If he can back it up, that’s fine. If he can’t, he just put himself in Freddie Mitchell territory.

Gracias, Pro Football Talk.