Xavien Howard – May 24, 2018
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Thursday, May 24, 2018
CB Xavien Howard
(I saw on social media you were hanging out with a Baylor guy, right? Was it QB Bryce Petty?) – “Yes, Bryce.”
(How well do you know QB Bryce Petty and what do you think about him joining the team?) – “He’s a great guy. I played with him. I had two years with him at Baylor. He’s a great guy. He can come out there and compete.”
(Your excellent close to last season, obviously the Monday Night game and the way you played, what did it do as far as your confidence and being used as fuel this offseason?) – “This offseason, I’m going out there and really just competing. Just going off last year, I ended the season well. I’m just getting better. It’s a new year. I’m getting better each year.”
(What do you think attributes to the slow starts you had last year?) – “I don’t know. We’re just growing. I try to get better each game, try to show improvement and stuff like that. At the end of the season, I guess I came well at the end.”
(What was the difference with the end of the season?) – “Really just going out there and knowing the quarterback, what I put on film earlier during the season, stuff they’re going to try to attack and really just working on that.”
(Was there anything that you changed in October, November as far as how much you studied film, anything technique-wise that might’ve led to you playing so well?) – “I was pressing more towards the end of the season. I was going to get my hands on the guys and stuff like that. Nothing (with) film. I stayed watching film. So really nothing (big), just changing my technique really.”
(Do you feel like you’re past the early, the learning part of your transition in the NFL, that now you’re expected to play like a veteran basically?) – “Oh, yes. We’ve got to turn it up to the next level. (It’s a) new year, new team, new goals. We’ve just got to go out there and just compete.”
(So for you, what stuff comes naturally now? What stuff were you trying to learn originally in those first couple years and now it’s just very natural for you?) – “I’d say just learning formations and stuff like that. Knowing what I put on film, (I’m just learning) what quarterbacks will try to attack at stuff like that. (I’m) just looking where my weaknesses (are) and stuff that I need to improve that a lot of quarterbacks try to go to.”
(When you say you were pressing more, was that your decision to do that or the coaches told you to do that or how did that come about?) – “The coaches. They said they want us to put our hands on receivers and stuff like that. We played a couple of good receivers and stuff like that. So, just knowing what our best … What my strength is doing is just pressing, knowing what I do well.”
(Would you like to do that more, like maybe all the time?) – “Oh, yes. I have no problem pressing. I did that in college. I pressed a lot. To the next level, I’m really just turning it up.”
(How would you describe the personality and leadership style of your new position coach, Tony Oden, and what’s a message that he has been saying to you guys a lot?) – “We just agreed to come in there and we’ve just got to finish. We’ve got to finish strong and study stuff that we had put on film and stuff last year, that again, people have seen. He’s really just telling us (to) finish and try to make plays out there.”
(What’s Defensive Backs Coach Tony Oden’s personality like?) – “He played in the league a couple years, so he really can contribute and let us know what we’re doing wrong and stuff like that. Just knowing he’s been out there and he knows how it is out there on the field.”
(Do you have concrete goals for this year – Pro Bowl, interceptions, anything like that?) – “No. Just continue. We’re just trying to get better each day.”
(How would you know this is a good year for you then? What is it that would say, “Man, I had a good year this year?”) – “I’d just say going out there and really just competing. I don’t know whatever come to the end, whatever we do, whatever we have, stuff like that.”
(What are you impressions thus far of S Minkah Fitzpatrick?) – “He’s a great guy. I saw him make a lot of plays at Alabama. I was watching him when I was in the league. Just seeing him out there making plays, I know he’s a playmaker.”
(Having said that, you have S T.J. McDonald, you have S Reshad Jones and then they take a safety in the first round. What was going through your mind?) – “I really didn’t think about it. It brings competition to the group. Everybody is out there working. Nobody has a job right now. Nobody knows they’re going to start or not, so it just brings competition to the group.”
(How many times, if at all, have you watched the Patriots game and your play in that game? Have you watched it a single time since the season ended?) – “I’m not really focused on that. It’s a new year. I’ve got to achieve some more than that.”
(Are you more likely to watch tape of games where you didn’t play as well as you wanted as opposed to games where you played really well?) – “Yes, sir. It’s stuff we got to learn on. Like I was saying, I had to go back and watch film, see what I was doing wrong that the quarterback was attacking. So just going off that, really just watching film overall (and) watching other players (and) what they do well and stuff like that, and just learning.”
(When you talked with Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke at the end of the season, what did he tell you needs to happen for you to improve?) – “I need to start fast. He just said I need to start fast. I need to start how I ended the season.”
(Does that require a different approach to the offseason than what you’ve had or is that just going to be a natural progression?) – “Yes, a natural progression. Just knowing what I did and knowing I’ve got to feed off that and I’ve got to turn it up.”
(This is Year 3 for you now. How important a season is this?) – “It’s a big season for me and the team. We’re just going out there. We didn’t have a good season last year, I’d say. We’re just trying to get better each day, come out there and play ball.”
(A lot of times players, they make a big leap from Year 1 to 2 and then in Year 3, they really become the player they’re going to be in their career. Do you see this as the year that you can really establish yourself as one of those elite corners?) – “I believe that. Yes, I believe I can be a top corner in the league just going out there and really just playing. So, I’d just say just going out there and doing me.”
(Were you good the last two years in your opinion?) – “No. I struggled a lot. It’s a part of just coming to the NFL. Stuff that I was doing in college I can’t do in the league. You see different receivers and stuff like that. Really, I’m just learning the game and knowing what I can do, knowing what I’m best at doing and just sticking to that instead of trying to do everything else that … I know my weaknesses and stuff like that, so really just knowing what I do well.”
(Were you frustrated often?) – “No. Really, it was just learning everything, trying to get to it. I was really big on trying to know what they’re going to do and stuff like that. In college, I wasn’t really watching film and stuff like that. I was just going on my athletic ability; but in the league, it’s a different level.”
(Technically you’re competing against him right now, but what do you see from QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “That’s a great guy. We need him a lot. He’s a big aspect out there. We know just … Going against Ryan Tannehill, I see a lot of good things in him and stuff like that. As you said, we’re competing against each other. He’s making me better and I’m making him better.”
(From 2016, last year not getting to see him at all, is QB Ryan Tannehill looking more like the guy you competed against back then? What do you see?) – “Yes, he’s getting better. As I said, right now it’s the third day of OTAs and we’re just going to get better and see how it goes.”
(How much time, if any, have you spent – and the other DBs have spent – on addressing the NFL’s new rules regarding tackling leading with the helmet, possible penalties, ejections if you do it the wrong way? How much have you guys talked about that?) – “I haven’t really, really looked into it like that; but I’d say it really affects nothing about how we tackle and stuff like that. Even though certain ways people tackle, leading with the head and stuff … In different situations offensive players have defensive players in. We just need to know how to tackle and do everything well. We’re practicing that a lot right now in OTAs.”
