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Xavien Howard – December 30, 2021 Download PDF version

Thursday, December 30, 2021

CB Xavien Howard

(Obviously you’re familiar with QB Ryan Tannehill. Y’all got history together from practices. He’s not a quarterback that you can kind of confuse with those blitzes so how do you feel like you guys can get under his skin and get in his head?) – “Got to put a little pressure on him. I feel like the front’s got to put pressure on him. Just dealing with him as a teammate, just being here, just knowing some of the weak things for him, so I feel like that’s one of them that we’ve got to do.”

(I’m sure you got plenty of picks off of him in practice when y’all used to play. What do you think it’ll be like if you get one off of him Sunday?) – “It would be great, but we’re trying to take it one day at a time, I’d say. I feel like he’s definitely improved over the years just seeing him play and I’m expecting to see him do a lot of great things when we play him.”

(If I could follow on that, they’ve got a really good receiver on the other side with Titans WR A.J. Brown. I’m curious what you see in his game and if you get matched up on him, what are you looking at?) – “I feel like him and Julio (Jones) and (Nick) Westbrook(-Ikhine), he’s a sneaky guy that I feel he really do a good job. They’ve got a good receiving corps, I’d say. Very physical guys and we’ve just got to be ready to come play Sunday.”

(This Dolphins defense is now leading the NFL in sacks. Obviously the guys up front in blitzing have much to do with that. How much is that a total team effort that also involves the coverage?) – “It’s definitely a team effort. Guys get sacks [inaudible] on the back end, just doing their job on the back end. So it’s totally a team effort. We’ve just got to keep adding to that.”

(Last time you guys played Tennessee was the 2018 opener game that lasted like seven hours because of the two rain delays. Was that the weirdest game you’ve ever played in when you look back at that game? Like how crazy that was, how long it took?) – “Yeah, I remember that game. That was a crazy long game. We were in the locker room waiting, then went outside and came back in. There was a lot of stuff going on.”

(I’ll just follow up. I asked you earlier about Titans WR A.J. Brown. I wanted to ask you specifically about him. What in his game, when you watch him on film, stands out?) – “I feel like he’s very physical. I feel like he attacks the ball and also I feel like that’s Ryan’s favorite target. He’s definitely a top receiver I’d say in my book, and I’ve got to give him much respect as watching him on film and knowing what he’s good at. I’ve just got to do my job.”

(When you do face physical receivers, what’s the difference in terms of your approach or mindset going against guys who want to muscle up on you?) – “I feel like I can’t be aggressive. That’s their game I feel like they’re good at – being physical, pushing guys off and doing that. So I feel like I’ve got to do a little bit of jabs and stuff like that. I just can’t really just try to be physical because that’s what they’re good at, so I’ve got to do different. With physical guys, I try to add that into my gameplan, but also I know [inaudible] got to do it and not just doing it the whole game. I feel like it’s just like boxing. You can’t come with the same approach when you fight in a ring.”

(I don’t think we’ve talked to you since you were named to the Pro Bowl so just your reaction to that. Getting another one under your belt.) – “It was great. It was a great feeling getting that – accolades and stuff like that – but right now the focus is on Tennessee and just trying to win every week.”

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