Thornton, an undrafted rookie from Louisville, played 46 snaps of defense (70 percent), which was nearly more than he had gotten in the first 10 games combined (49 total snaps). He had five tackles, two passes defensed, and a forced fumble in that time.
"He's been showing a lot of ability in practice that we can count on," Canales said. "Watching him continue to improve his fundamentals, and a guy that's really into the game, really focused on the details, wants to know, a guy that competes with Chuba Hubbard to try to be on the field first every day. So, a competitive guy by nature, and then he's got length, he's got size. We thought it'd be a good matchup, knowing they were going to move Drake London around a little bit. So he got some opportunities yesterday and made the most of it."
Cherelus, who has been here since 2023, primarily plays on special teams but stepped into the starting lineup with Trevin injured and finished with a career-high 10 tackles and a pass defensed.
"We saw Claud at the end of the Saints game. He came back in and just picked up right where we left off," Canales said. "I think collectively as a group we let some runs get out on us in the first half, but once they settled in, Claud started to see the runs really well and look for his opportunities to make a play. And when he did, he showed up with physicality, whether it was in the run game or the pass game.
"He had a late nice collision, on a slant route to Drake London at the end of the game, where he just trusted his eyes and just bolted towards it and made a really physical play right there to get the ball down. And I was really proud of the way that Claud stepped up for his teammates."