D.J. Reader usually talks to his mom every day, but the Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle went almost a week without speaking to her after the Super Bowl. That’s how difficult the three-point loss to the L.A. Rams was for him to digest.
Reader’s mom understood him needing some time to himself immediately after that game, though.
“She doesn’t even try to talk to me after stuff like that,” Reader said. “We are very similar. We don’t talk to each other after losses. Me and her always talk about leaving it all out on the field. That’s something her and my dad always preached to me since I was a kid, just demeanor, how you play the game. If you leave it all out on the field you don’t have anything to be ashamed of. You are a natural competitor, you are going to be pissed, but don’t be ashamed.”
Reader decompressed with a trip to Costa Rica, hanging out with his young son and just taking time off at home.
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