Tony Oden – May 30, 2018
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Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Defensive Backs Coach Tony Oden
(Do you like it here so far? Everything working out well?) – “I love it here so far.”
(How has the transition been for you?) – “It’s been good. The family is down here now, so that part is good. The guys are doing a good job getting me used to everything going on around here, so it has been good.”
(Your first impressions of S Minkah Fitzpatrick – the first eight days around him on the field?) – “He’s a rookie. That’s what it is. He’s a rookie. He’s doing a good job. He’s smart. He’s all of the things that we thought he would be. We’ve just got to bring him along, just like he’s a rookie, and give him what he can handle. We’re not going to slow his progress up one way or the other. We’re just going to take it day by day.”
(We were told a lot when you drafted S Minkah Fitzpatrick about him being very mature for his age. Even though you just said he’s a rookie, are there some things you see that make him look ready for this? That he looks pro ready?) – “Oh, yes.”
(As far as what?) – “I always start off with saying he’s a rookie. He’s definitely that; but you can tell he’s played in a lot of football games. He’s a very good communicator. He works hard. He wants extra study. So those things are kind of mature, or mature-r than most. He’s fallen in line with exactly what we thought he would be.”
(With the talent that you have back here in this group, you return a lot of starters and some guys who have started, such as CB Tony Lippett. What are your expectations for this group?) – “Compete and get better. Every day, all of these guys, we talk about every day is an interview. We can get better tomorrow or today, and keep the arrow pointing up. That’s on each person to keep working hard and let the chips fall where they may.”
(Can you expect this group to be a game-changing unit or a game-influencing unit? Could you describe it along those lines?) – “You want that to be the case. The things we talk about are if you line up behind people doesn’t mean we have to be behind them. We can lead them by our actions and it all starts in the meeting room, being accountable, knowing what we need to do on defense, communicating how we need to communicate, anticipating how we need to anticipate and if we do those things, everything else will fall in line.”
(What do you see of CB Cordrea Tankersley in his rookie year? And the mission for him as far as his specific area to improve, would be what?) – “Well, we all have areas to improve. I told those guys that about myself. I try to improve every day and be a better coach. We want to improve one percent every day and add that up. So specific things, I don’t want to get into specifics on what he needs to improve on; but there’s always a little bit of meat on the bones for improvement, whether it be eye discipline or anything. He’s improving. He knows it. He works hard. Anything I’ve ever asked him to do or any of the other guys to do so far, they’ve been right on it. I’ve got zero complaints about the group, about the effort or energy level they bring every day.”
(And how does CB Tony Lippett look coming back from injury, but a serious one for a cornerback?) – “Sure, it’s serious; but he’s been working hard. Our training staff has done a phenomenal job with him and just as equally, he’s done a phenomenal job. He’s in here every day. Even when I first got here, he was here every day. He’s done his part and the training staff is doing it’s part. I just have to do my part as a coach to get him in there and get him used to being in there. He’s on track to do good things.”
(How do you see that battle opposite CB Xavien Howard shaking out, because you have a bunch of guys amongst that crew that have a shot at it?) – “All of those guys, including ‘X’ (Xavien Howard), are trying to earn the right to come out here the next day and compete. I have no idea how it’s going to turn out; but I know it’s going to turn out with good competition and it’s going to turn out well. I’m excited about it.”
(What are some of the things that you can do because you have three safeties – such as S T.J. McDonald, S Reshad Jones and S Minkah Fitzpatrick – coverage-wise, looks or scheme? What are some of the things you can do?) – “You know just as well as I do that it could be a whole bunch of things or it could be not a lot at all. It just depends on how these guys gel together and how these guys react and respond when the bullets start flying. Right now, it’s all easy. Right now we’re just running around here in shorts and t-shirts and it’s all good. The sky could be the limit or we could be limited to that much [points to a small amount], but we’ll see. I think we’ve got the right group of guys, so I don’t anticipate being limited in a lot of things; but who knows. That’s why we practice and that’s why we play.”
(Why was taking this job appealing to you?) – “Palm trees and sunshine. (laughter) Besides that? That was number one. (laughter) No, I’m just joking. That’s not number one. (Defensive Line) Coach (Kris) Kocurek came down here, who I was with and coached with for four years up in Detroit. I know his style of coaching and I think we complement each other very well. I know (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase and his history coming up through the game. I like his offensive perspective and how he attacked us when we went against him in past years, so that part was exciting. I knew of (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Matt) Burke. I know what kind of man and person he was based off of other people. When I look at the roster, this roster is close, and it was close. We don’t need to change a lot. We just want to enhance what’s already here, because those guys have won some games and have done some good things in the past. We just want to fine-tune a little bit, based on what we’ve done, and go from there.”
(Over several games, we saw elite play from CB Xavien Howard – the Denver game, the Monday Night Patriots game. Does that make you think its imminent to be like that all of the time? Not obviously two picks a game, but …) – “I like that – two picks a game. (laughter)”
(Is that too much to expect to be in an elite corner? Obviously you’re challenging him to be that. Is it in him to be that over a season?) – “We’ll see. He has the athletic ability to do it. We have to put him in a position to make those plays. Once he’s in position to make those plays, he has to do it. I don’t want to pigeonhole him one way or the other and say he has to be this or that. He just has to be the best ‘X’ he can be. Hopefully that’s good. I think he’s going to be a good one. We’ll see. I’m excited to see him play.”
(When you preface with S Minkah Fitzpatrick that he’s a rookie, what are the typical hurdles of the rookie learning curve at that position?) – “Just learning the speed of the game, learning how fast things are, how many moving parts that go on. (He can) learn that he doesn’t have to do everyone else’s job. He just has to do his job to the best of his ability. Those are the biggest things.”
(Your first impression of CB Jalen Davis?) – “I like him. He’s spirited. He has good transition. I don’t think it’s too big for him at all. I’m excited to see him go out there and compete.”
(We’ve seen obviously CB Bobby McCain mostly in the slot here, but we’ve seen him some in the boundary. Do you like what you see of him as a boundary corner?) – “Well we haven’t restricted him to boundary or field. All of these guys are going to have to play corner at some point. I look at all of these guys as corners, not necessarily pigeonholed as a nickel at all. I need him outside and I’m going to need him inside. If he’s in the game, it’s going to happen. If we don’t practice that, I can’t expect him to compete and excel at an elite level if we haven’t practiced it. So all of these guys will rotate through – right, left. There’s no boundary or field. Just go get it.”
(I know there’s no depth chart but any logical person would say S Reshad Jones is going to be a starter in your defensive backfield. Is there anyone else you would include in that group where you can say with confidence this guy should be starting for me in the opener?) – “No. I definitely can’t say that. We don’t have a depth chart; we have a rep chart. A rep chart is how are we getting reps for that day. We rotate through that thing and we have way more snaps to be taken before any of that stuff is decided, and that’s a good thing. We’ve got good guys out here that are working hard and doing everything we ask them to do. I couldn’t ask for a better group right now, to be honest.”
(Has anything stood out to you about S Minkah Fitzpatrick?) – “Just that he’s got good ball skills. He’s smart. He’s a competitor. He’s all of the things that we thought he would be. He’s still learning but he’s eager to learn. The game isn’t too big for him and I think he is what was reported and what we thought he would be. He’s just learning the info game.”
(With CB Tony Lippett, has he yet shown the skills needed to be an NFL cornerback after an Achilles injury or is it too early to know if he’s regained all of his skills needed after that injury?) – “I think he has a lot of skills; but everyone looks good. If I go out here right now, I might have skills until we get to a preseason game. (laughter) That’s when you find it out. But he’s doing exactly what he needs to do. I have zero complaints about where he’s come, where he’s going and how hard he’s working and all of those kinds of things. He’s an NFL corner. That’s what he is. He’s played NFL games.”
(CB Cornell Armstrong, just your initial thoughts on him?) – “Tough. He’s smart, learning and improving. I’m excited to work with him.”
