Tony Lippett – May 31, 2017
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017
CB Tony Lippett
(You let the offense have it at the end a little bit?) – “It’s all a competition out there. We’re always trying to get each other better.”
(On the competition between the offense and defense) – “We’re all out there competing, trying to get each other better every day. That’s what we’re going to do. (Head Coach Adam) Gase created a competitive environment out here, and we’re just trying to uphold it.”
(How much of a talker are you?) – “Not much. I’ll talk a little bit here and there. I’m not much of a talker though.”
(CB Bobby McCain likes to talk?) – “Bobby won’t stop talking.” (laughter)
(With all the progress you made last year, was there another level that you identified as you look back at last year that you wanted to get to and what areas?) – “I’d like to get more comfortable and having that experience of last year of going through what I went through – and kind of being thrown in the fire – I think helped me. I just try to work on every phase of my game every day, every day in the offseason. I try to strengthen my mind, strengthen my body and strengthen my knowledge of the game. I feel like if I continue to do those things, it’s going to help me, so (I) try to do that.”
(When you look back on last year and the fact that you were kind of thrown in there the way you were, were you pleased with how you responded or how did you look back on it?) – “Looking back on it, I didn’t really have a choice to respond any other way. It (was) basically, ‘Alright, get out there and play. That’s what you have to do; it’s your job.’ I haven’t really looked at it like. I try to take what was given to me and try to make plays the best way I can to help this team win. Now looking back at it, (I) learn from every game and learn situations and things like that.”
(What’s the biggest thing that you take from that second season?) – “The second season, just basically never getting too up, never getting too down, keeping it an even playing field, learn as much as you can, learning in losses, learning in wins, because there is always stuff to learn in this game. The moment you think you got it, you get hit with something you’ve never seen before. Always learning how to make a play or not make a play and move on to the next play and don’t let it linger on to the next one.”
(In the defensive back room, you have a lot of talent there between you, CB Byron Maxwell, CB Xavien Howard, CB Bobby McCain and now CB Cordrea Tankersley. How competitive do you think it’ll be in training camp?) – “It’s competitive now. I feel like it’s going to be competitive in training camp. It’s competitive now. We all mess with each other a lot. We’re cool with each other. We help each other out a lot. We’re our hardest critics on ourselves. We push each other every day to make plays. One guy makes a play, we’re all getting hyped. That’s just how we are. (It is a) competitive room, but we all got each other’s backs at the end of the day.”
(How do you build on last year’s performances as far as technique?) – “You’ve got to take it week to week, day to day. You can always find something to get better in. You can always find situations to get better in. That’s what I try to do. I try to watch all the games last year, watch other people’s films and things like that, to see what they’ll be thinking on certain down-and-distances, on certain plays and things like that. Just basically strengthen your mind, learning from last year.
(Situationally, is there anything in particular you’ve been trying to pay attention to and say “This is what I need to get better at.”?) – “A lot of third-down stuff, third-down tendencies that coaches use – third-and-shorts, third-and-longs. Coaches use different things but it’s a lot of repeated stuff in the NFL. (I) try to see what a lot of different offensive coordinators see and what they’re trying to do to you and try to be in the right place at the right time.”
(If I’m not mistaken, you went over the top against Pittsburgh to try to block a field goal in the playoff game. Was that you?) – “Yes, that was me.”
(That play is banned now. Do you have any thoughts on that? Is that a difficult play? Should it be banned?) – “I don’t know. It was something we … I just mistimed it. (laughter) I’ll just say it: I mistimed it. I can’t do anything about the rule. It’s out now, so we can’t do it anymore. I’m sure somebody will find some other way to jump over something and try to block a field goal. It’s just the game we play in.”
(What did you think about that when it was called? I’m sure you all practiced it. Did you think it was crazy? Was it a good idea?) – “I thought it was a good idea. I thought it was a good idea the whole time. When I jumped over and nobody moved, I didn’t think it was a good idea. (laughter) You live and you learn. That’s just the name of the game.”
(When you came in here to the NFL, you were the receiver being converted to DB. At what point did you stop thinking “receiver” and start thinking “full-fledged DB”?) – “I would probably say midway through my rookie year, midseason when I was on scout team a lot playing corner, and I started to every day try to get better at something, every day try to get three percent better at something. (I would) go out there and work on something. I might be on scout team, no matter what it is, you can always take something out of this game. Me being new to it, that’s what I told myself to do: go out there and work on something that day no matter what it is. That’s when I stopped thinking about it as a wide receiver. When the ball is near, I try to get it, but I’m not a wide receiver anymore.”
(What was the point of emphasis physically your work with Pete Bommarito and his staff this offseason? Was it going out there to just stay in shape or were you looking to work on a particular skillset or physical thing?) – “All around. You can work on on-the-field stuff, off-the-field stuff as far as lifting and things like that and technique and things like that. There are a lot of guys around the league that work out at Pete’s and things like that, so every day I pick somebody’s knowledge (like) what they’re thinking on this, what are they thinking on that. It helps you at the end of the day. Nobody is going to be selfish enough to try to hold information and things like that. If they’re going to give it to me, I’m going to ask them every day something, a little tip (like), ‘What do you see out there? You’ve been playing 12 years, so obviously you see more than I do. Whatever you see, I can learn from that, and I can incorporate that into my game and how I think on the field.’”
(Any receivers in that group that you competed against last year?) – “I don’t think there (were) any receivers … That I played against last year? No, I don’t think there (are any) receivers that I played against.”
(How big of a goal is landing a starting job?) – “It’s big, but we take it one day at a time. You never know how the chips are going to fall, so I just try to get better every day, try to make plays, try to compete and try to take all the knowledge that I have and I continue to acquire and put it all out there.”
(LB Raekwon McMillan – there are Big Ten ties between you two. Also, are you guys part of the same fraternity as well?) – “Yes.”
(Have you guys had any conversations about that?) – “We had no crazy conversations, nothing like that. I talk to him (about) how it was when he was back at Ohio State and things like that and how it was in the frat as far as being at Ohio State (and) was it different than Michigan State and things like that. It’s kind of basic stuff. He’s a great player, too.”
