Gotta keep moving forward. Whether you just showed out on the last play or got beat, the next play needs to be the next play, you can’t live in the past, need to be in the present moment. As a defensive back, you are often on an island where any mistake you make can be detrimental to the team and any play you make is just a play you made unless it was a turnover.
I remember when we played Louisville at Louisville. We were beating up Teddy Bridgewater pretty good all game. Beat him up so good he had to go the locker room for a quarter or two. He came back in toward the end of the game and proceeded to drive his team down the field and put them in a game-winning situation. Our cornerback had been battling some injuries himself and was beat on a few plays during that drive. However, he stayed in the moment, the next play was the next play. Teddy, living in the previous play, tried picking on that corner again, he threw the ball up towards his receiver in the back of the endzone and our guy came down with it. Game Over.
The lesson to take away from this is that you can’t get too high or too low. Let the past be the past and know that it doesn’t define you. Live in the moment and figure out what you can do right now to steer the ship in the direction you wish to go in. If you mess up, that’s fine, move on. You have a win, awesome, move on. Gotta keep moving forward. No matter what. You are not defined by past experiences, what defines you is who you are in the present. The past only has as much effect on the present as you allow.