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Xavien Howard – September 5, 2020 Download PDF version

Saturday, September 5, 2020

CB Xavien Howard

(How tough have the last few months been for you with COVID-19 and the knee recovery, and do you expect you’ll be ready for the Patriots opener?) – “It’s been good. I’m here today. I’m focused on – we should be starting on the Patriots real soon, so I’m just focused on that right now. Everything has been good. I’ve been taking care of myself so I’m good.”

(I know we haven’t talked to you since they signed CB Byron Jones. What do you think about potentially playing the opposite of him and having another top corner on the other side?) – “That would be great. We can do a lot of great things, just having another top-tier corner on the side. However that plays out – also we have Noah (Igbinoghene), so there’s a lot of competition in that area right now. So, whatever happens, happens. It would be a great idea, me and Byron outside.”

(You’ve mentioned CB Noah Igbinoghene. I wanted to ask what you’ve thought of him and his progress so far. He seems to be really pesky out there, kind of like a ball hawk.) – “Noah has been getting better each day. (He’s a) very strong, fast kid. He’s been learning, and trying to learn from the older guys. He’s been improving each day.”

(I wanted to ask you a little bit more about yourself and CB Byron Jones. When you look at the tandems of cornerbacks around the league, where do you think you guys are going to stack up? Are you willing to put yourselves at the top of the list?) – “It’s too early for that. At the end of the season, you’ll see where they put us at. Right now we’re just focused on getting better each day and we’ll go from there.”

(Has your recovery from the most recent surgery taken longer than you expected?) – “No. I feel like it was perfect timing. Me and the Dolphins, we did a great job. We stayed and believed in the plan that we had. With that plan, it worked perfectly fine. I’m here today. I’ve probably been here for about a week going with the team and stuff like that, so everything has been good.”

(It seems like at the end of 2018 season, you were starting to make your name as the co-leader of interceptions and whatnot, then the injuries started to happen last year. Do you feel like you got to prove to people again what you are as a corner?) – “I always feel like that each year. Each year, you’ve got to set the bar higher. With that in 2018, (we are) way behind that. It’s 2020. Through the ups and down that I’ve had the last two or I’d say one year, at the end of the day, put the work together and I should come back on top again.”

(From this time last year until now, there were a lot of changes in the secondary. In particular, a couple of former cornerbacks in S Eric Rowe and S Bobby McCain are playing safety now. I’m just curious from your perspective on the perimeter, what does having two guys that can come down and cover like that do for your skillset and your place in this defense?) – “It should make a lot of guys’ jobs easier. The coaches put us in position to make plays They put us in positions to make plays so I feel like everything should be easier for a couple of guys that are in the secondary.”

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