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Sam Madison – October 20, 2022 Download PDF version

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Cornerbacks/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison

(So you all began the week, incredibly, with just three fully healthy corners in CB Xavien Howard, CB Noah Igbinoghene and CB Justin Bethel. So did you walk into Head Coach Mike’s McDaniel office or General Manager Chris Grier’s office and say, ‘Hey, we need more?’ And if you didn’t, why didn’t you?) – “Well, we have on the roster is what we have on the roster. We always say the next man up. These guys are doing an unbelievable job of understanding what we’re trying to get done. And Mike is doing a great job of managing the things that we have and what we don’t have. We have guys that just in case need to go in there and get things done. We’ll plug and play. But Josh (Boyer) is doing a very good job of putting the game plan together and the guys are understanding it very well and just going out and executing.”

(What did you think of CB Noah Igbinoghene’s game on Sunday? I think he got his most extensive action of the season.) – “Yeah, that was the most he’s had all season. He’s getting better. I mean, when your number’s called, you got to go out there and the other 10 guys on the field are really expecting you to go out there and do your job. Throughout the course of the game, I was talking to him and then Raekwon (Davis) saw me talking to him and he was like ‘Coach, leave him alone. He knows what he’s doing.’ So I just let him go and just handle his business. But Noah is one of those guys that’s going to go out there and give it his all. He’s still learning the position and I’m trying to give him all the little tools that he can to go out there and be – not perfect, but be in a position to be able to make plays. He was finally able to get his head around a couple of times. He got pulled down one time by (Adam) Thielen I believe. But he’s just got to go and attack the football and those are the things that I’m trying to really work with them to hopefully turn the ball over and get it back to the offense.”

(What have you seen from CB Justin Bethel?) – “Man, listen – Bethel, he’s a professional. He’s been in this league. He’s been around for a very long time. The majority of his career he’s been a special teams guy, but he understands everything that we want him to get done. I talked to him coming into this game and he, as well as Kader (Kohou), spent some time together talking about the nickel position, the star position and he went out there and handled his business very well. We try to talk to these guys on a consistent basis. If anything happens, be prepared. And he was prepared when his number was called.”

(When CB Nik Needham went down, what did you feel for him as your player, as a person?) – “Man, just watching the things that he’s been able to do since I’ve been here, he’s been asking question, he’s been a quiet leader. He’s not one of those guys that really talks up and does a lot of talking. He just goes out and tries to get the job done. But I just feel for anybody in this position. We know that this is a game that at anytime you can be lost in this game, you can pretty much end your career in this game. That’s one of the things that I try to talk to these guys about. Leave it all on the field because you never know when that last play will be. But Nik, he was a guy that could go and play corner, he could play star, he could play safety. He’s going to be one of those pieces that we’re really going to miss. I had the opportunity to talk to him on Monday, I know he had surgery on yesterday, and the one thing he said was, ‘Coach, no matter what, I still want to be in the meeting rooms if y’all want me to.’ He still wants to be around. He’s definitely still locked in and wants the best for each and every – whoever goes out there and play.”

(There was a play where WR Justin Jefferson got down to the two-yard line and I think they had three receivers stacked on the right side of the formation. It looked like CB Justin Bethel and CB Xavien Howard went with somebody. Was that a mental on your guys’ part or just a good play design on theirs?) – “Well, communication on those two guys. It was a situation that we’ve gone over multiple times in in the past. We went over it this week. They just have to get that thing – they have to go out and it’s two guys on two. So we have a call that we make that they work together and they just didn’t work together and the communication was off.”

(Was that something where maybe because CB Justin Bethel hasn’t gotten as many reps?) – “No, he’s had multiple those reps. And throughout the course of no matter what the week is, when I look at the depth and who we’re going to be potentially putting into the game, I put those guys in and try to get those reps no matter if it’s walkthrough or if it’s a regular practice. They’ve had a number of reps on those things and it was just bad communication.”

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