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Nik Needham – May 28, 2024 Download PDF version

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

CB Nik Needham

(I understand you’re working combination of safety and nickel. How much does that differ? Because you’ve done some safety in the past, right?) – “It’s not too different right now, because I think it was like three or four years ago when Jevon (Holland) and Brandon (Jones) were battling injuries, I stepped in and played a little safety. That was my first time really playing it, so now it’s just kind of breaking it back in, hitting up some old notes that I had on safety and talking to Jevon and having Jordan (Poyer), too, helps as well – two of the best safeties. And then nickel, that’s just football really. I’ve never really had an issue with that going from corner to nickel.”

(So it has been a while since that year you’re talking about? Or did you do some last year?) – “That I played safety? Yeah, that was like – oh, I did. I actually did, yeah. I’m tripping. (laughter) I played a little bit. I played a little bit but yeah, it was practice. I played some nickel last year, and just emergency safety – if someone got hurt, I would go in. So it wasn’t anything…”

(What’s the biggest challenge going from corner to safety?) – “Just the mental aspect of it. At corner, it’s really your physical abilities. It’s one-on-one, you verse the guy right in front of you. When you move to safety, you kind of control the whole defense. You have to understand how to put guys in certain positions and in certain situations what to do. I think that’s probably the hardest part, but I feel like I’m a capable guy and versatile enough that I can handle the workload and play corner, safety, nickel, linebacker. Like I said, whatever they need me to play, I’m going to play.”

(How does it help having a guy like Jordan Poyer? A veteran like him, for the safety group, kind of the most experienced veteran since Jason McCourty, right?) – “For sure. He’s helped tremendously. I told him he’s one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever met in the league. Our first day, he was super open, wants everyone to learn from him. He’s not trying to act like, ‘I’m the big 12-year vet.’ He’s very open, he has us over for dinner. We haven’t done that as a DB group since I’ve been here. Having that I feel like will create more camaraderie and have us be successful on the field, because we’ll really know each other. It’s not just going out and playing and see you at work. We can actually create a bond, and he’s the one that started that with everybody. We takes walks with our shoes off and (stuff), but we’re just talking and bonding. I feel like that’s what the good teams do.”

(So he’s hosted you? He’s had you guys over?) – “Yeah, he just did for Memorial Day yesterday. Once a week, the safeties go to dinner. Like I said, I haven’t done that since I’ve been here.”

(Had you had any interaction with him before he signed with the Dolphins?) – “No, we just started talking. Like I said, he’s a cool dude. He’s one of the coolest dudes that I’ve met. So I’m like, you’re very open. He was just like, ‘We should have dinner.’ ‘Alright, bet.’

(He hasn’t thrown any jabs over about his record against you guys?) – “Nah, nah, nah. (laughter) I mean we’ve obviously talked about that (stuff). Like I said, I tried to ask him how their defense had success, because they’re a very successful defense as well. They have some of the top DBs too. Just learning from that and using stuff he knows for us.”

(It’s the safeties and corners?) – “That go to eat? Yeah, all the DBs.”

(You’re a lot farther ahead in the game than you were last year because you were coming back from injury. How much of a difference does that make?) – “Like a whole 180 in the mindset. Last year coming off injury, battling, keep getting injured while I was trying to come back, it was just messing my head up. I was kind of down and just wasn’t in the right headspace. This year, I’m back to myself, I feel confident. I’m not out hurting and (expletive).”

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