Xavien Howard – May 6, 2016
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Friday, May 6, 2016
Cornerback Xavien Howard
(On his size, how he fits into the team’s scheme and if he thinks that is why he is here right now) – “Yes, I feel like I fit the scheme they have going on. (I’m a) press corner. I’m six (feet tall). I’m a physical corner, a ball hawk, and I feel like I fit the scheme that (Defensive Coordinator) Vance Joseph has going on.”
(On how practicing against former Baylor WR Corey Coleman helped him) – “It helped me a lot. Me and (WR) Corey (Coleman), we stay competing. Every time we played each other, it was always good or bad. So we competed against each other (and) made each other better.”
(On if it means anything to him that he’s being talked about as a possible starter) – “I really don’t look at it like that. I’m just coming in here to make plays and hopefully be a starter. I love that they’re talking about it but I’ve got to live up to my expectations that I have for myself.”
(On what he thinks about not practicing during rookie minicamp and what he hopes to get out of this weekend) – “I plan on getting immensely prepared for it. (I plan to get) prepared for the NFL, the speed, the tempo and how the things go; and really learning the defense.”
(On his football background) – “I realized I was good at football in high school. In my freshman year, I had played basketball. I didn’t play football in my freshman year. (I did play football) my sophomore year. I got back into it. My junior year (was) when I started playing quarterback – my junior and senior year. I started really cornerback my senior year. So I feel like I had made some plays. I had a lot of interceptions in high school and that’s when I knew I was ready for college. So I got accepted to Baylor then I redshirted my freshman year. There was some stuff I needed to work on – technique and getting ready for the (college) game, the Big 12. Then after that, my redshirt sophomore year I had won a starting job and my redshirt junior year. I was just improving each year. As I left as a redshirt junior, now I’m here in Miami.”
(On if he agrees with the comparison to CB Byron Maxwell) – “Oh yeah. I had watched him when he was at Seattle and (with) the Eagles. I like his game. I feel like he’s a good comparison.”
(On how important it is for a cornerback to always know where his help is) – “It’s very important because you have to know where everybody is on the field. So knowing what’s going on and just being mentally prepared for it – like how they have us (learning) now – It’s just learning (where the help is and) learning defense.”
(On playing at Baylor and helping put the school on the map) – “When Coach Briles came in from (the University of Houston) he had started (to turn things around) at Baylor, going to a bowl game and stuff like that. As we had different players coming in (and some) top recruits coming in, we just worked hard over there at Baylor. And just competing against teams like OU, OSU, TCU, it was very important because everybody wanted to be the Big 12 Champs and we were the Big 12 Champs back to back. And we knew TCU, OSU and a lot of teams wanted to beat us.”
(On what area he feels he needs to improve and grow) – “I need to chill out with a lot of penalties that I had in college and really my technique. (I need to) get better in my technique. Not false stepping and stuff that my coach used to tell me in college. That’s really, basically it. I’m improving on everything around but I (have) good ball skills and being physical but I (have) to clean stuff up and make me an NFL corner.”
(On his first conversations with Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) – “When I came in, he had talked to me about learning the defense. Getting the mental (part) down and just know what everything going on.”
Adam Gase – May 6, 2016
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Friday, May 6, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On some rookies mentioning he was an offensive genius) – “They’ve been around me (for) five minutes. That will probably be one Matt’s going to (have to) review his media (training) as far as what guys need to say about stuff like that. (laughter)”
(On his unique approach to this rookie minicamp) – “It was something we’ve been discussing since … probably around the combine. Between (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Executive Vice President, Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and myself, we’ve talked a lot (with) our coaching staff, especially some of the older guys. (We talked about) their thought process of kind of trying (to do) something a little different. I’d reached out to (Los Angeles Rams Head) Coach Jeff Fisher at the owners meeting because I had heard that he had always done it a little different. I mean I think he’s been doing it different than everybody else for a long time going back to Tennessee. So it was just kind of how we wanted to build it and see how we could kind of take that injury out of what goes on in this camp. A lot of our guys haven’t practiced (in) four to five months, so we just wanted to make sure that they learned our program. We got them ready to go so when we get to OTAs, those guys are in the right kind of shape. I think last year probably scared a few guys. When you lose a first round draft pick like Jacksonville did, it just kind of gets you thinking ‘What’s the right thing to do at this point?’”
(On what he has the rookies doing today) – “What we basically did this morning was football. They were in the classroom and then we got them with (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Dave) Puloka in the weight room and kind of their introduction there. Then this afternoon will be a lot of things, whether it’s dealing with kind of how to go through the adjustment. Dealing with (the media) is different than what it is in college and how accessible they are. The Sports Science Department we have is … We have a big group and there are a lot of things that they offer. And then a lot of the things that (Director, Player Engagement) Kaleb (Thornhill) brings to the table with the player engagement stuff. So there are some different things set up. We’ll bring in a speaker on both days to kind of inform our players and let those guys understand kind of what it takes to be a pro. And then at night after dinner, we go back to football. For the coaching staff, they have the flexibility since there are so few guys and there’s a lot more one on one time … we’re able to have in the bubble. We can go over to the bubble and (Wide Receivers Coach) Shawn Jefferson (can) get those guys out there and say, ‘Oka,y show me this formation,’ and ‘Line up in the correct splits.’ The thing that we were just trying to avoid was the offense vs. the defense. I think for what we’re looking to do, (which is) to get these guys caught up to speed with the veterans, we felt like this gave us our best chance.”
(On how he feels G/T Laremy Tunsil has handled all the attention) – “I think he’s done a good job. I mean I know it’s been what, eight days? He looked excited when he got here. He’s probably happy that this is kind of starting. These guys have been almost on their own for so long and training with Pro Days and traveling and the Combine … It’s just a lot of things going on for them that’s kind of outside the norm for a college athlete. Now finally getting back into the environment all these guys know and understand, and that structure, I’m sure not only him, but everybody else is just happy to get going again.”
(On if he’s given any advice to G/T Laremy Tunsil on how to handle all the noise) – “No. I mean we haven’t talked extensively. I mean everything happened so fast after the draft with bringing him in, getting (him) with you guys and then him basically (leaving town for a few days) and then now coming back … I mean our conversations have been short but we’ve had a couple of good talks.”
(On what he wants to see from G/T Laremy Tunsil in this rookie minicamp) – “I think with all of our guys, we just want to see them attack this playbook. (We want them to) try to use the people that we have in this building to their advantage. The people in this building are going to try to help them become pros as fast as possible and that transition is a lot harder than what people realize. The good thing is we have such a good support staff. If they lean on the people that work in this building, they’re going to have success.”
(On when he starts the process of who is going to play guard whether it’s Laremy Tunsil or Ja’Wuan James – “We’re so far away from, I mean (OTAs are) really two weeks away, but we’ve got some time. The good thing is when you have the OTAs, you have the minicamp, you can do some experimenting. Obviously you guys saw what we did in that first minicamp; we were moving guys all over the place. We’re trying to see who fits in at the center position, as well, as far as a backup. (We’re) moving guys around in the guard position and see who can swing out to tackle because when you get to that 46-man roster, you have to have some guys that can be flexible. It’s going to be a little bit of a process for us to figure out what the right five are for us, but we’re going to use all that time.”
(On what he likes about QB Brandon Doughty) – “When I first met him, (I thought) that’s a confident kid and he has something about him that’s just one of those things. He has a presence about him. He has a swagger about him. He’s very confident. I mean his numbers are … a lot of you guys have probably followed him because from being down here. The numbers he put up in college and being part of a winner, I love that fact about him. I feel like we have a guy that’s going to come in here, he’s going to work to get better and he’s going compete with those guys. And that’s all we want.”
(On if it’s a coincidence that this draft was heavy on offense) – “Yeah, I mean going into the draft we initially thought it was going to be … more defensive guys were going to be available for us. The good thing that (General Manager) Chris (Grier) did was that he stuck with our board. We didn’t go and try to just grab a guy just so we could say ‘Hey, we drafted a defensive guy.’ And that’s why you go through that whole process. I mean they started it way … they started way before I even got here. And then going through that process in February, the Combine, coming back in with the coaches, and then leading up to draft day … All the things that they did research-wise and making sure the scenarios they had down, they adjusted on game day basically. And they stuck with the board. I though Chris (Grier) did a great job of that.”
(On what WR Leonte Carroo and WR Jakeem Grant both bring to the unit that maybe he didn’t already have) – “The way that we look at is our definitions for each one of those positions is something that we kind of keep in-house, but we do have a role for one, two, three, four, five, and if there’s a sixth guy. So right now those guys will be competing with the rest of those groups and we just need to see how it falls into place. We’re going to need a guy who can back up all the spots and contribute on special teams. I don’t want a guy sitting next to me the entire game just being a spectator. We need guys that can contribute on special teams, whether it be in the return game, or in all four phases. So those roles will develop as we get going and get moving into training camp, we’ll have a better idea because of preseason once we get into real games. But we do need to have guys in that room that are going to contribute on special teams.”
(On if he has key weapons with varied skill sets that excite him as an offensive coach) – “I think it excites us as an organization to just know that we have options. If something bad happens, I mean it’s the NFL as far as injuries go. You just better have depth.”
(On if RB Kenyan Drake’s versatility is alluring) – “I think in a lot of positions that you look at, the more you can do, the better. You only have so many spots on game day and when you have a guy like him, who’s done so much … And no one talks about the fact that he played on punt. That was a big deal to him and again, a guy that was in a program like Nick Saban’s program and being with Nick for as long as I was … You just know these kids are brought in (and that they’re) playing special teams. It doesn’t matter how many snaps on offense and defense you play, whether you’re a starter or a backup, you’re going to play special teams. And at this level, there are a handful of guys that don’t play special teams so you better be able to roll in here and contribute in that area.”
(On what stands out to him when he looks at this team right now) – “I think the fact that we did get deeper at a lot of different spots (stands out to me). We feel strongly (that) if somebody did go down, somebody’s going to be able to step in. We’re starting to create that next man up mentality of ‘Hey, we need guys that have not initially been starters to be ready to go,’ because at some time, your number is going to be called. And the fact that we have competition at multiple spots, guys are fighting for starting jobs, guys are fighting to keep their starting jobs – that’s what you want to create. You want to create competition in as many positions as possible.”
(On if not practicing in this rookie minicamp hurts the undrafted players) – “I don’t think so. I think it helps everybody that’s involved in this rookie class. I mean once you get here, for the most part, everybody’s competing. It’s hard the way that everything is structured nowadays. There’s very few guys where you’re like, ‘Oh, this guy automatically makes it because he was drafted in this round.’ For the most part, it’s just how you know get here; and then what you do with that after you get here, that’s on you.”
