Transcripts

Search Transcripts
Nik Needham – August 2, 2021 Download PDF version

Saturday, August 2, 2021

CB Nik Needham

(At this point, are you glad to be working both outside and in the slot? Obviously you’re competing with CB Justin Coleman in the slot but getting opportunities outside as well?) – “It’s always good to get work on both sides – inside and outside. Just getting more comfortable with the technique, communication with the safety as far as on the outside and just working that. It’s been real good.”

(What did Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander tell you at the end of the year in exit meetings or conversations in the spring about where you needed to be coached?) – “You can never be good enough, so he just says keep grinding. Just work on my speed. You can never be fast enough. Always say that. So I’ve been working on that and just taking the mental jump from Year 2 to Year 3, just like Year 1 to Year 2, to really take that Year 3 jump and just focus on that. I’ve just been locking in, watching a lot of film.”

(When CB Justin Coleman was signed, this might have been a little surprising because you had a good year. Obviously everyone struggled in the finale. But were you surprised? Did that motivate you? What instinctual reaction did you have when they brought in a veteran slot corner?) – “I didn’t have any reaction. You can never have enough lockdown defenders out there and I’ve watched Justin’s film. He’s a great player. Like ‘Chuck’ (Charles Burks) said, he’s one of the best at punching the ball out, so I’m trying to learn tips from him and just apply that to my game. So you can never have enough knowledge around the veterans.”

(With the first week of practice and all the long balls, what was the secondary room’s reaction to what they saw?) – “As far as?”

(Touchdowns…) – “Oh, I mean it happens. Football. that’s why we’re out here practicing. It’s better that it happens out here than in the game. So just go in there, take the film, take the coaching, take the technique that they teach you and just go out there the next day and apply that and don’t give up nothing. Each day you don’t want to give up deep balls, but at the end of the day we’ve just got to keep playing. Keep practicing.”

(In defending passes thrown by QB Tua Tagovailoa, is there any difference you’ve noticed this year compared to last year?) – “He’s letting it fly this year, for sure. He was last year, but you can see he just looks a little more comfortable back there. He’s making some tough throws, putting it in the hole, leading receivers. The one he threw to Rob (Foster) yesterday on the little out-and-up. He threw it in a nice little pocket, so that was nice. Yes sir.”

(How difficult is his accuracy to kind of play against?) – “It’s like any other quarterback; you’ve got to adjust. As you play through the game, you start feeling that. So you’ve just got to adjust to that.”

(You mentioned lockdown corners. Did you hear the “We love ‘X’” chants?) – “Oh yeah, you could hear that real loud. For sure. ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is for sure lockdown. He’s one of the best in the league. For sure.”

(Your thoughts on the chants?) – “I like that. You saw him smiling over there and stuff. That was cool. He deserved it.”

(But he didn’t turn around. Like he didn’t…?) – “That’s ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) though. Laid-back, cool dude; but going to go out there and get 10 picks, you know what I’m saying? That’s him.”

(But if they’re screaming “We love ‘X’,” can you give him a little?) – “I don’t know. I ain’t heard that. I’m just doing my job locked in on practice.”

(What about your approach since CB Xavien Howard has been limited in team drills?) – “Yeah, that doesn’t affect me. I’m just going out there, do what I got to do, take my mental reps, take my physical reps. Any reps that I can get, I just love to get them.”

(Has CB Xavien Howard offered anything from watching you guys out there?) – “Oh yeah, he always gives me tips. Even when he’s in there. He’ll tell me when I dropped the pick the other day, ‘You got to catch that.’ Giving me my 25. He’s always on my head, so it’s good to have him out there. He always coaches me up a little bit.”

(Just putting on the pads tomorrow, can you talk about that at all? How excited are you?) – “I’m excited for that, for sure. It’s been about like five months? Six months? About that time. Enjoy the pads in this heat. See what I’m talking about. So yeah, I’m ready to get physical tomorrow for sure.”

(Speaking of pads, what were your first thoughts when you saw you were going to have joint practices with two different teams?) – “It’s cool. I’ve never done that. We only did one last year (2019) and I’m excited for the Falcons one for sure because one of my best friends plays on the Falcons. So I get to see him.”

(Who’s that?) – “Jaylinn Hawkins. He’s a safety. We went to high school together. So that’s going to be real fun. I told him get ready for that heat. (laughter) We’ll see.”

Search Transcripts

Weekly Archives