Nik Needham – October 25, 2023
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Wednesday, October 25, 2023
CB Nik Needham
(How difficult was the last year for you? How much did it test you psychologically, physically and how are you feeling now?) – “Definitely last year to now, probably the hardest year of my life mentally and physically. Just overcoming this injury, it’s one of the hardest injuries in football, definitely for this position too. But I’m just blessed and grateful to be back, able to play football and be out here with my guys. So it’s all I could ask for.”
(Do you feel back to normal?) – “Yes sir. Good as can be, yes sir.”
(Having said that, what have these last couple weeks been like when you started getting back into it?) – “It’s been great, because just rehabbing for what, nine to 10 months, watching them guys grind and die out there, running hard and all of that, I’ve just been on the sideline watching. To be able to in that process and get back to playing football is the best thing for me. This is the happiest I’ve been in eight to 10 months. This feels good to be back out there, for sure.”
(Do you feel rusty?) – “I mean there’s a little rust. I haven’t played football in a year, so there’s going to be a little rust, but I can knock it off quick. It’s something I’ve been doing my whole life, so like I said, I’m ready to get back out there and show what I can do.”
(I don’t know if you know, this team had good fortune with Brent Grimes and Cam Wake both coming back from Achilles injury. Tell me about your hopes and how optimistic you’ve been and why you’ve been optimistic during rehab.) – “I did not know those two guys tore their Achilles, but they both have great careers, so that’s just extra inspiration for me. I’ve just been keeping my family close and trusting these guys in the process and just listening to whatever they have me doing. Like I said, right now I feel great and I feel ready to go. I’m just ready to get back out there.”
(Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio told us last week he sees you as a nickel and dime corner and a safety. First time anyone has mentioned safety with regard to you. Are you getting working at safety in practice?) – “I mean it’s not the first time I played safety. I played safety two years ago, filled in for Jevon (Holland) when he was hurt, filled in for when Brandon (Jones) was hurt. It’s nothing new to me. I feel like I’m a versatile DB and as the years have been going on, I’ve just been doing whatever I’ve been asked to do. Whatever it is – safety, nickel, corner, linebacker, I can do whatever you need me to do.”
(It could be really cool that you, CB Jalen Ramsey and CB Xavien Howard all come back together potentially, possibly. How did CB Jalen Ramsey look?) – “Jalen (Ramsey) looks great. Man, that’s a freak athlete right there. That’s one of a kind. He ran like 22 miles per hour fresh off the injury. You don’t really see that normally out here. It’s just crazy to see him out there. I just try to admire him, watch his work and take after him.”
(So hold on, he ran a 22?) – “I think something like that.”
(In practice?) – “No, no. Just when he was coming back. Just when he was out there running sprints and stuff. That’s a freak athlete right there.”
(What was the hardest part about this journey coming back?) – “Probably the first three months, just sitting on the couch watching football. I’ve never really missed a season of football ever off a big injury. Just having to be in the boot for three months straight, showering with the boot, sleeping with the boot, it was definitely a mental headcase. Just getting out of that and getting back to running around and playing football probably helped me out the most. But definitely the first three months just sitting on the couch. I think I didn’t leave my house for like two weeks, I was just in the house.”
(So who took care of you? Somebody had to take care of you?) – “Oh yeah, my brother, Tyriq Wilson, shoutout to him. He was living with me. He was my chef, my personal driver, all of that. So I thank him very much, because without him, I don’t know really how I would’ve got that done.”
(You were a free agent for a time. Was there thought to any other options other than Miami?) – “I really wasn’t worried about that too much, I was just worried about getting myself right for whoever wanted to trust in me and believe in me. I appreciate the Dolphins wholeheartedly, because I love it here and I can’t wait to get to work for them and showing that I can do what I do, for sure. I was just focused on my rehab and the process.”
(Did you think that you had a chance to go on the Physically Unable to Perform at the start of the year?) – “Like training camp? Like could I play? No, I don’t think I was ready for that. Like they said, this is like a 10-to-12-month recovery type of thing. So I was trying to take my time with this, because I had already put all that rehab time in, I didn’t want to go out there and rush it and have something else pop up, because I’ve heard of that stuff happening too. I just wanted to be 100 percent healthy.”
(How do you think the vic Fangio scheme – obviously, you’ve been in a lot of the meetings, right? So you are mentally prepared for the scheme. How do you think it works to the advantage of defensive backs?) – “I think it works great. We’ve been primarily a man defense over the past years, and now we all get to show our abilities in zone, having our eyes on the quarterback. I think we’re all big playmakers in the secondary, and I think this will just help us excel in our careers, for sure.”
(When you go back to a new scheme, the mental reps you could right now, right…) – “Yeah, it’s a little easier seeing it mentally and looking at stuff on paper. As of recently, I’ve been getting live action bullets, so like I said, trying to knock the rust off with that type of stuff. I think once I get comfortable with it fully, I’ll be able to go out and be ready to perform at my best ability.”
(If you do get to play on Sunday, it’ll be in the special throwback jerseys.) – “Oh yeah, those are my favorite too.”
(I’m trying to campaign to get them to be the regular jersey and helmet. What do you think about them?) – “Yeah, that’s not in my tax bracket. (laughter) I just do what I’m supposed to do, wear what I’m supposed to wear. I don’t have a lot of say in that. I wish we could though, I do love those.”
(You have black cleats?) – “Oh yeah, they’re right here. All I wear are black cleats. Black cleats, black gloves.”
(How did you keep yourself mentally strong to come back, especially in those three months that you mentioned?) – “Like I said, having my brother live with me helped a lot. Just the support of all the teammates and coaches, they all called me after the injury and told me everything is going to be fine, so that helped. I have a couple of friends that have also had big injuries as well. One of my big bros, Jason Verrett, he’s battled a lot of injuries as well like that, and I think he had an Achilles as well. He just said, ‘You’ll be able to shake back,’ and I watched him come back from it as well. It was just inspiration just keeping the family close – that was the biggest thing for me.”
