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Nik Needham – November 29, 2020 (Postgame) Download PDF version

Sunday, November 29, 2020
Postgame – N.Y. Jets

DB Nik Needham

(Throughout the game as the offense kind of took a while to get going, they had a couple turnovers. It just seemed like you guys never felt this thing was in jeopardy the way the defense played. Just talk about that as in control as you guys seemed the entire game.) – “Before the game ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) always preaches ‘let’s play complementary football.’ If the defense is slacking, the offense needs to pick them up; if the offense is struggling a little bit, defense has to pick them up. We got to play as a team, and I think that’s just what we went out there and did today.”

(Congrats on the interception. I was wondering when you have a teammates who is the NFL leader in that category, does it kind of bring the fire to the rest of the guys that you want to keep up with him like that?) – “For sure. It’s inspiring. The way he just gets his hands on the ball, we always talk about, he really should have like, 12 or something. He’ll drop one and pick one. So it’s like, man you’re trying to keep up and make as many plays as that man. It just pushes me every day, definitely. He’s a great player.”

(I’m curious, this defense when I look up the stats, is at least top five or top two or three in turnovers. Such a turnaround from last year even though a lot of the players are the same. What is the reason you guys are really good at forcing turnovers?) – “I think we’re just growing as a unit, trusting in each other, trusting where we are going to be on the field and holding each other accountable to make those plays because sometimes if we don’t make them in practice we’ll get on each other’s ass just so we can execute in the game, and I think that’s what has helped us a lot.”

(I’ve got a cool stat for you here. Of the Jets 23 running plays, 15 of them gained 3 yards or less and that creates a lot of third-and-long situations. I’m curious from a defensive back’s perspective how does that kind of change your approach or maybe help what you guys do on the back end?) – “That’s definitely big because when you stop them on first down it puts them in an awkward situation – second-and-long. They’ll try to get to some random players, something that they need to get back on track. And if they don’t get that, then it’s third-and-long and they’re really stuck. So it definitely puts us at an advantage if we can get out there and get it done – good run stops on first down and second down.”

(How big did that fourth-and-1 stop seem at the time?) – “That was huge. That was a big play in the game. It might have even been the biggest play in the game. ‘E. Rob’ (Elandon Roberts) – he’s  been doing that a lot this year and I knew he was going to go in there and blow it up again. When he did that we all got hyped for him and celebrated for him. That was huge. You could hear it from the sideline.”

(I don’t think we specifically asked you about your interception and how you felt after that play.  What were some of the things that you saw and how does it feel to kind of bring one down, your  third of your career?) – “It felt good. Been talking about it these past couple of weeks, ‘I need to get one, like ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is the only one with a pick…’ It definitely felt good to get out there and get my hands on the ball. We know ‘82’ (Jets WR Jamison Crowder) is one of their main go-to targets so Sam (Darnold) ended up throwing the ball trying to force it so I ended up with the pick.”

(Could you describe the mindset for your defense? After the offense turns the ball over, it seemed like you really picked up the offense and got them out of a jam.) – “Like I said, we try and play complementary football. We got to pick each other up when the other one is down. When we saw that play happen, the defense was up. We all got rallied around each other. ‘Let’s go, let’s get a three-and-out. Let’s get a stop right here so we can get the offense the ball again.’ That ended up working out for us.”

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