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Xavien Howard – August 16, 2023 Download PDF version

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

CB Xavien Howard

(So what are the eating spots?) – “Turkey Leg Hut. Blue Check Barbecue, you’ve got to check it out.”

(I went to Turkey Leg Hut yesterday.) – “You did? I did yesterday. Still full.”

(Got the mac and cheese.) – “Mac and cheese. Cajun?”

(Yes.) – “Fire. Fire. Got to get some barbecue though while you’re out here.”

(All the work you did in training camp goes away when you come home after eating all that stuff?) – “Nah, nah. We’ve got to get it baby. We’re on a roll this year.”

(How would you evaluate how the defense performed today?) – “I feel like the defense did good. We made some plays. ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) especially made a lot of plays today. That dude will ball no matter where he’s at on the field. So ‘Gink’ made some plays. We got some stops and stuff like that. Overall it was a good joint practice.”

(How do you feel the communication at the back end is coming along) – “It’s coming along well. We’ve got to work on it. It’s a new system, new scheme and we’re focused on just getting better. We’ve all got to be on the same page.”

(Have you seen the cornerback room sort of come together in the wake of CB Jalen Ramsey going down? Guys competing and trying to fill that spot.) – “Yeah, we’ve definitely come together, man. Like you said, next man up mentality. Noah’s (Igbinoghene) been balling, getting some interceptions. I love that for that guy. Cam’s (Smith) coming up and Kader’s (Kohou) doing his thing. There’s guys in that secondary who are making it happen.”

(You mentioned CB Cam Smith. What did it mean to see him go back on the field?) – “It feels good, man. Cam’s a good guy. All he’s worried about is getting better.”

(I mean like in the game, he got hurt and stayed in. In the preseason game. He got hurt the play before, stayed in there and made another play.) – “That’s football man. You’re tough. I feel like that ain’t nothing. Everybody does that. He’s just getting his reps and is focused on the season coming up.”

(Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us before practice that DT Christian Wilkins hasn’t really been doing a lot of team stuff because of his contract situation. Obviously, you went through a similar situation a couple years back.) – “I knew you were going to ask me this. (laughter)”

(I’m just curious, as somebody that’s been in that position, do you have any advice to him, any message or anything?) – “Get your money. (laughter) Get your money. I can’t say anything else man.”

(From a player’s perspective, how important is that to handle the business stuff when it’s time to do the business things?) – “At the end of the day, you’ve got to make sure you’re ready to play football also though – no matter what you’re going through – because there’s like, some guys just focus on getting paid and stuff like that. Then they forget that you’ve still got to play football if you get paid or if you don’t. You’ve still got to perform. So it’s like, you’ve just got to take care of it and just be a pro. And I’m sure he’s going to do that because he’s a pro.”

(Does it feel kind of weird the way the system is set up where you’ve got to come here so you don’t get fined. But once you come here, you’re not doing team drills. Does that sound kind of weird in a way?) – “No. It’s not weird. You know it’s work. That’s all I can say.”

(You’ve been around for a while now. We see young guys at training camp trying to make it a learning process. Did you take the same approach this year in camp as you did like your first couple of years? Or is it different for you at this point?) – “It’s very different. Like I said, it’s a new technique that I’m playing this year. So I’ve got to get used to that. I’ve got to get used to playing off. My years at the Dolphins I’ve been playing a lot of press man – so now I’m playing off. I’ve got to get used to that. It’s totally different because I’ve got to have that confidence like I’m playing man when we’re playing off also. It’s different. I’m just focused on just learning and helping the guys around me.”

(You excited about what you guys have done so far in that new system as far as holding the offense down?) – “It’s cool man. I feel like it’s a growing pain right now. Some of the stuff that the players probably don’t understand until the real games start. We’re just trusting the process.”

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