COACH BRIAN DABOLL

BRIAN DABOLL: So we're on OTA six today. Working some different situations. A little bit more first and second down stuff. Again, just kind of taking it day by day and making some strides as we go. Looking forward to having a good day.

Q. Is Kayvon good? Saw he left practice last week and is wearing a red jersey.

BRIAN DABOLL: He'll be in a red jersey today along with some of the other guys. I'd say this with the red jersey guys, they are all making progress, taking it day-by-day, but they are all doing a good job of doing the rehab that they need to do, whatever that's required of them.

Q. Any long-term training camp concerns with him with whatever happened?

BRIAN DABOLL: I don't think there's really any. We'll see, it's day-to-day. I'm talking about for everybody. I think the red jersey guys are making progress and hopefully we'll have everybody ready to go.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about Julian Love, he's one of those guys, steady performer without a lot of fanfare.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, dependable, smart. Plays tough on tape. I think he's done a good job in his group. Been a good leader for us, good communication with X (Xavier McKinney) out there. It is really a pleasure to be around. Seems like we can use him in a lot of different roles and he's, I'd say, ready for that challenge in terms of understanding the playbook and being able to perform it out there on the field up to this point.

Q. Most of your career you've been an offensive coach, but when you see Wink do things, do you process it as an offensive coach and say, man, that's hard to beat?

BRIAN DABOLL: My first five years in football were learning defense from Nick Saban and Belichick and a couple other good coaches I've worked for. I've obviously been doing offense for awhile.

I think one of the reasons we decided to hire Wink was he does run, I'd say, a multiple scheme, presents certain challenges to you offensively, he's a good communicator. He does a good job of leading the defensive coaches and players out there.

But yeah, I'd say so, it's always a learning process. You get an appreciation for the players. You are running a system and installing it, and those guys, this is tough.  I'm trying to make sure I'm up to speed on all the defensive stuff and what we call it and why we do certain things. As well as the kicking game.

Yeah, there's a lot to it.

Q. You mentioned last week wanting Daniel to be aggressive, taking shots. How has he done with that through five of these practices?

BRIAN DABOLL: Good. Again, I think those are all good learning lessons. Can you fit it in that window, can he move the safety with his eyes, can he anticipate where a receiver is going to be based on the choice that the receiver has. That's going to be all the way through the rest of these OTAs and through training camp.

I think that's why you practice for a quarterback especially, it's okay to make a mistake in practice. You touch the ball on every single play. Let's go ahead and find out what we need to work on and let's continue to be as aggressive as we can.

Q. With Wink, the first word anybody uses to describe his defense is aggressive. When you were looking for a defensive coordinator, was that a priority or you just liked him? There's other ways you can play defense obviously, was it his style that really appealed to you?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'd say that, one, he did a good job in the interview. Two, his system is difficult to prepare for as an offensive coach so again there has to be a good meld of personalities and a lot of other things that go into it, but certainly his defenses, they were aggressive and presented certain challenges as an offensive play-caller and when you game plan and stuff.

Again we are in day six and he's put a lot in and I'd say it's still difficult when you're an offensive coach. Offensive coaches have to go back -- you don't game plan against your team but there are certain challenges to it.

Q. You are big on relationships. What have you seen from the players and Wink as they are coming together?

BRIAN DABOLL: Wink is a very genuine guy. The first day he stood in front of the defense, I was in that meeting and it was pretty quiet. He was the guy that was talking most of the time, but I'd say he encourages input and good give and take in there and now when I go in there the first five minutes, it's like a party for five minutes. Everybody's talking, laughing, telling stories, so I think he's done a good job of loosening those guys up. We've got a long way to go with those guys.

Q. As a first-time head coach, you can pick who you want on your staff and the dynamics of it, and to bring in a big personality like that, some first-time head coaches might say, he may be too much of a personality. You obviously weren't afraid of that at all?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, I think that's the job of a leader is to be able to lead and communicate and build relationships with a lot of good people on your staff, different people. Some might be a little bit more timid. Some might be a little louder.

Same thing when you're looking for players. I think if you can develop good relationships and build trust and be a good communicator that you can deal with anybody. But I'd say, look, when we were hiring a staff, there's a lot of people involved in that. So when we interviewed some of the defensive coordinators, Wink, there was seven or eight people involved in that on Zoom meetings asking questions. Jerome Henderson was involved in that. Bobby Johnson, guys that were already on the staff because I think it's important that not one person can -- for example -- that's all right. Yeah.

Q. To this point, what are the most significant thing or things that you've learned about Daniel?

BRIAN DABOLL: He wants to be good. He wants to be coached. I'd say he's tough on himself, which is good and bad for a quarterback, too, because you have to be able to move on to the next play rather quickly since you touch the ball on every play. Asks a lot of good questions. He's been out here on the field. He's improved since we've been here.

I'd say fundamentally, understanding what we want to try to do. Just try to bring out the best in him and I think he wants to be as good as he can be for this football team. Obviously, he's had a kind of up and down first few seasons. But it takes everybody. You see the growth of some of these young quarterbacks from year one to year two to year three to year four that have consistency in the system, add play-makers around them. The entire team, we've got to try to work toward that the best we can.

Q. Did you talk to him personally about the decision not to pick up his fifth year option?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'll keep those personal conversations personal in terms of dealing with the players in respect to that. I think we have a good relationship. Those decisions or those conversations, whatever they are, whether it's that or releasing a player or you're cutting down on a player's play time or adding player's play time, those will always be personal to me and the player, but he's a pro.

Q. How tough a conversation is that because it could be viewed as, hey, they don't have full confidence and they are not fully invested in me?

BRIAN DABOLL: I just think you're just honest with the player or the person in the organization that you're dealing with. I think you have mutual respect and that's how those conversations go.

Q. Tom Coughlin was here the other day. What's your relationship like with him?

BRIAN DABOLL: I've known Coach obviously from being in the league for awhile. Got to talk to him other day. Didn't have much of a relationship prior to getting here but just a tremendous amount of respect for what he's done as a coach and as a man, the foundation that he represents.

Going through some tough times right now and just got a ton of respect for how he went about his business. A good resource to have obviously in the spot that I'm in right now. That's why I'm out here ten minutes early.

Q. Will you make it to Raleigh by 7:00 tonight?

BRIAN DABOLL: I cannot. Go Rangers.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR WINK MARTINDALE

WINK MARTINDALE: Really like where we're at right now. Second time we've gone through the installation of the package and love the room and really excited to take this thing all the way into mini-camp and then build for the third time that they will go through it in training camp.

With that, I'll open it up to questions.

Q. Can you talk about some of the young corners you have opposite Adoree?

WINK MARTINDALE: Yeah, like A-Rob (Aaron Robinson), initially just come to my mind when you said that, I think he's been doing really well. And they are all competing. It's hard when you sit there and look at all the different corners right now because of how early it is. You know, we haven't even had a practice in pads yet.

And also, they are not in their top training camp fall shape yet. But what I've seen, I really do like. I love that room. And I think we've got the best secondary coach in the league, Jerome Henderson. I'm excited for that room.

Q. You went through a year last year where it seemed like you were trying to find a new corner every week in this defense. What kind of lessons did you learn of trying to overcome that?  

WINK MARTINDALE: Don't go to DoorDash to find a backup corner.

I think that just everything's in perspective. You have to have a flexible enough scheme that you can make some different changes. If you have a guy that hasn't had much playing time or has been a backup or whatever, that you can make some different calls to help that player out.

But I mean, football, this is a tough profession. You know, it's just like I talk about corners all the time, offensive coordinators talk about wide receivers. Everybody is drafting wide receivers in the top part of the Draft. It's great challenge.

Q. You mentioned Aaron. What do you like about him on the outside? When they drafted him last year, he was seen as an inside guy.

WINK MARTINDALE: I think that from what I've seen, my evaluation with it is the game is slowing down for him, like any rookie going into his second year. But when you put him outside, I think it slows it down even more from being inside. It's like walking in middle of the street when you're inside, compared to the outside, you're just standing on the sidewalk and you see things a lot better, a lot easier.

Q. When you come in, everybody says, okay, Wink is going to bring a pressure package; that's what he believes in. Can you give a quick thumbnail on what your philosophy is? It's easy to say pressure. A lot of guys like pressure but you analytically do it more than anybody. What is your philosophy about what you want to do to the offense?

WINK MARTINDALE: I think that, really you just answered the question, is you want to dictate to the offense instead of sitting there and letting them dictate to you. I think this is a game of adjustments and matchups and everything else, but I would rather them have the headache and stay up five nights before we play them figuring out what we're going to do and try to present different looks every time we play – because pressure does break pipes -- that's our philosophy.

You have a great quarterback, you want him to be able to make quick decisions that you're going against and if you have an average quarterback, you want him to change up your different looks coverage-wise and everything else but at the end of the day, you want the quarterback on his back. I don't care if he throws it or not, but if you can just get quarterback hits, they know who they are playing against.

Q. When you present that to the players for the first time, what was their reaction, especially the guys who have been here before?

WINK MARTINDALE: Like I said, it's a great room. I really do enjoy that room of players and people, coaches and the players. It's just been a lot of fun. I just tell them who I am. I'm not one of those guys that's going to drive home and say, I wish I didn't play max coverage there. We going to put the game in the players' hands because this game always has been and always will be about the players, and I've said that ever since I've been in this position.

I think that as long as they know it situationally what we're going to call, and we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it on Saturday. We'll talk about it on Fridays, but in the Saturday night meeting, in these situations, here is what we're going to call, is everybody with us? You get a lot of success because you're putting the game in the players' hands and that's what it's about.

Q. On defense as a whole, how does length help you guys defensively?

WINK MARTINDALE: I always say there's a good place for a small person. It's behind a big, long person in this league, because you know, it helps everything. It helps your open field tackling and helps separating off blocks and it helps going up to the 50/50 ball. Length does play a big part of it.

I thought Joe (Schoen) did a great job, and Dabs, with the draft and free agency and the undrafted free agents. It's been a long process. We've been here like four months now. I was joking with Dabs the other say, I said it seems like we've been together for four years. But I mean, that's a good thing. That's how much we are enjoying it here and doing this.

Q. You were obviously in Baltimore for awhile and you did a lot of really good things there. What was your reaction when John Harbaugh mentioned to you that he was going to make a change?

WINK MARTINDALE: Really, John didn't mention it to me. We had some conversations and you know there was a lot of change in the league this year. And there's no big secret, I want to become a head coach in this league. I thought with the different opportunities with the different changes, it was mutual. I love John Harbaugh. He's a brother. Always will be. And Mr. Bisciotti took care of our family for 10 years and I love that organization.

But when this opportunity came about, I just thought, you know, my time before when I met with Mr. Mara and Mr. Tisch, those guys, this is an awesome opportunity for us.

Q. What do you remember about that interview and why was that a positive experience for you?

WINK MARTINDALE: Just the man that Mr. Mara was in talking to him. It was just a very comfortable conversation, which he made it comfortable, because I'm interviewing for the head coaching job and I wasn't comfortable. I was nervous.

But it was just a really good conversation that we had for about four hours.

Q. After all success you had in Baltimore, what is there left for you to prove to become a head coach, do you think?

WINK MARTINDALE: It will happen if it's supposed to happen. I tell my kids this. Wherever you're at is where you're supposed to be and that's the way I feel here now. I don't know what's in store for us or down the road, and that's the great thing about life. But I know one thing: We're going to have the best Thursday you've ever seen, and that's how we look at it defensively.

Q. Seeing the departures that you guys had, most notably James Bradberry and Logan Ryan, some of the outside perspective is this defense is going to struggle this year. What would your message be to that perception?

WINK MARTINDALE: We'll see. We'll see.

Q. Do you prefer Wink or Don?

WINK MARTINDALE: Wink's fine. I've been called that since college.

Q. How excited were you guys that you did draft an edge rusher, Kayvon, with the fifth pick and what are your expectations for him as a rookie?

WINK MARTINDALE: Just to be Kayvon. I mean, as a defensive coordinator, you want every pick to be a defensive player. But I was excited. He was Drew's No. 1 guy, Drew Wilkins, the outside linebacker coach, and he was my number one guy coming out of the process.

He is going to be a lot of fun to be around.

Q. What made him your number one guy?

WINK MARTINDALE: Just all his different flexibilities and the way we can use him in the scheme and his pass rush ability. He's a bright, very football-smart kid that has a lot of aspirations and goals, and don't we all want our kids to have aspirations and goals. I've loved him since day one.

Q. You had another young pass rusher last year in --

WINK MARTINDALE: Odafe?

Q. Oweh. And are there any similarities? Is there anything coachability wise that you would relate?

WINK MARTINDALE: Yeah, they are both great people, you know what I mean, and they are football smart, but they are definitely different. It's going to be, like I said, a lot of fun to watch.

Q. About this job, are you doing a deep dive on what the talent level is here, or do you just simply say, I can work with whatever they give me?

WINK MARTINDALE: I think that you do that -- I think that you work with whatever they give you, wherever you go. And I think anybody tells you any different, they are looking you dead in the eye and lying. I didn't know Brian personally. We've been around each other, but I have respected him as a coordinator, as a defensive coordinator going against an offensive coordinator, and I've learned a lot of football in the last four months from him, how he looks at things offensively.

And let's don't forget, he coached defense, too. He coached defense for five years. I just really respect him as a man, and I know you guys can see the change in the culture around here and that we are going to have fun and we are going to play hard nosed. We are going to run after the football and tackle people. I guarantee you that. We'll play as hard as they can play.

Q. In Baltimore, you guys had, seemed like a great linebacker every year. I know he's coming off injury, but what do you see from Blake Martinez here or in the past?

WINK MARTINDALE: Blake's doing everything that you can possibly do to get back on the field. He tells me he's ready to go right now, and I know Ronnie (Barnes) is doing great job with him. I really respect Blake and what he's done in this league.

Q. You're a very fiery guy, we all know that, but circling back to before, the idea that people don't have high hopes for this defense, do you want to prove that wrong?  

WINK MARTINDALE: Look, we'll control the narrative. That's what I'll tell you. We control the narrative. People can say what they want to say. We'll see when it's time to kick it off down there in Nashville, we'll see where we're going to be at by then. But we control the narrative in the room, and I'm excited about this this season.

SAFETY XAVIER McKINNEY

Q. So what's it like with the new guy?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Who?

Q. Wink?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Oh, Wink, it's really fun. I think we're all enjoying it. You know, just so much aggression. It's just giving us energy. We're able to go out there and play without worrying about making mistakes, so it's just giving us a lot of freedom to just go play, go attack and be the play-makers that we have on our defense. It's been fun and we've loved every bit of it.

Q. Is that the focal point of Wink's defense is attack, attack? You dictate, not the offense?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Yeah, like I said, we love it because ultimately as a defense, that's what we want to do. We want to make the offense make mistakes, not us wait for them to make mistakes, so we want them to make a mistake off of what we do and how we bring that aggression towards them.

Q. How different is it without Logan and James Bradberry? Seemed like last year, the secondary was like the strength of the unit and now all of a sudden, it's like you're the old guy?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Yeah, we definitely miss those guys, man, and you know, they made decisions for them that were good for their situation, and I was just talking to Lo yesterday, I just called him just to check up on him. We all keep in contact and we're all brothers at the end of the day. But the guys that we have now in our DB room are great and we're just all finding that chemistry with each other and finding that bond within ourselves and within our group. Like I said, we're having fun.

Q. Seemed like last year was kind of a breakout year for you. What do you consider your next step?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Take it 10 times forward. That's what I'm trying to do. Trying to make sure whatever it is I need to do to help this team win games and help us play great defense, that's what I'm willing to do and that's what I'm going to do. For me, that's what I'm focused on.

Q. Wink called Jerome Henderson the best secondary coach in the NFL. Obviously he's the only one you've ever known, but what makes him a good coach and how important is it for the young guys in the room to have the consistency, I think he's the only assistant that stayed?

XAVIER McKINNEY: For us, we feel great it, Rome and Mike (Treier) actually stayed. We're happy about that. They definitely give us the confidence to go out there and just play. They help us a lot on the field of just seeing different things. Obviously when I came in, Rome is who I had. It's been great just being able to stay with him.

Obviously in this game, a lot of coaches get switched around but keeping our same coach and keeping the coach that I had my rookie year is great because we already had that chemistry with each other, and a lot of us had that bond with him already. It's a lot easier to be able to just listen to him and be able to soak in the information that he gives us.

Q. With pressure comes, you know, sometimes a DB gets stuck on an island. Do you mind that?

XAVIER McKINNEY: No, I don't. I don't. Especially in this defense. Because it's so much aggression. Like I say, it gives you the freedom to go out and play. I don't mind that at all because at the end of the day it's me versus you, anyway. So I'm trying to win one-man battle every time and I'm confident that I'm going to win that battle every time. That's how I see it and that's how I go about it.

Q. Obviously you had the turnover on the coaching staff but you individually, how did you attack the off-season and will continue to attack in terms of here is my game and here is where I want to take my game?

XAVIER McKINNEY: I just wanted to take it to the next level. I think my biggest thing this off-season has been a lot of film study. I've just been diving in on film and just seeing different things that the offense does, whether that splits, how they run things when they are going to run things, situational stuff. That's really been my biggest thing. Every day I train but I want to make sure that I overemphasize just staying in the playbook, staying, watching game film, watching practice film, watching myself, seeing what I can improve on. I think that was the biggest thing for me as far as really taking this thing to the next level. A lot of times, that's what separates the good guys from the great guys is the film study part of it – that's what I know, that's what I've seen, so just been focusing on that.

Q. Does it change the way you watch film or the amount of film you watched?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Kind of both. I watched it more at like a slower pace just so I can be locked in on certain things. If I saw a play once, I would try to make sure that I could see that play again. For me it was just watching it at a slower pace and not just going through it. Sometimes, I would also just sit there and watch the whole game and I wouldn't rewind. I would just let the game play through and if something came and I saw something, I write it down or you know, I call it out before it happens. So that was kind of both for me.

Q. You missed a good chunk of your rookie year because of injury, came back and were able to play last year. A-Rob (Aaron Robinson) is sort of in the same situation, a year removed from that. What advice do you have for him and what can he expect in his second year that's a restart, a do over for him?

XAVIER McKINNEY: Just to go out there and be himself. That's what we ask amongst ourselves. We all hold each other to a high standard in our room and we all know that we all hold each other accountable. So you know, for him, it's really for all of us, it's just go out there and play and be yourself and go make a play. If you mess up, we don't really worry too much about that because everybody is going to have their mental errors. I have mine. I had some today. But everybody is going to make their mistakes. Just go out there and play and we'll correct it later.

Q. What did you think when the team drafted Evan Neal and what was his rep at Alabama?

XAVIER McKINNEY: I was happy about that one. I've been getting on his case a little bit. I was glad that we picked him up, man. He's been great so far from what I've seen and when we go out there and compete against them. We're family, so you know, obviously we played at 'Bama together and it was fun there and I'm just glad that he's my teammate again and glad that we can have him as part of the team.

CORNERBACK ADOREE' JACKSON

Q. Did things change a lot for you in this defense?

ADOREE' JACKSON: For me, just trying to learn and understand multiple positions, not just my own, but to know where my help is defensively, whether it's zone or somebody may be driving our man -- just understand what the weakness is and trying to make sure that I'm on top of that and then working from there.

Q. What is sort of your mindset now that you're sort of the definitive No. 1 cornerback in this defense, a guy who perhaps will be asked to cover the top receiver?

ADOREE' JACKSON: Just lead by example and like you said, understand that's the position I'm in and taking full responsibility and accepting the role that's given to me. So I think that's my mindset. Obviously if you're given a role, you have to believe that you can do it and do it at the highest ability, in that aspect, just taking it a day at a time at practice and in the classroom or in the meeting room, whatever it may be, just trying to get those reps mentally and physically, so I can go out there and be prepared and do it at a high level.

Q. You said the possibility of James Bradberry being released would be devastating. Is it?

ADOREE' JACKSON: It hurts. That's a guy that when I came in, we bounced ideas off each other, different techniques, how he plays.

But at the end of the day, I gained a brother in the process of knowing him. At the end of the day, it's like your brother going off to college. He's my brother, he goes somewhere else but at the same time still being in touch with him and happy for him at the end of the day. As soon as he signed, I was happy for him. I told him we would have the jersey swap since we play them twice a year.

Q. What about landing in Philadelphia?

ADOREE' JACKSON: That sucks, you know what I'm saying. It's like going to your rival, like me and Darnay, USC and UCLA. But at the end of the day, still family and still wish him the best and wish him well regardless of everything that's going on.

Q. You've been in the league for a while. How much do players pay attention to the business side? You knew something like this was going to happen but how much do guys talk about it in the locker room?

ADOREE' JACKSON: I think you pay attention to it more once you're in it and go through it. I can attest when I was a rookie, the OG, she was kind of telling me about it. And I'm like, I just got here, I'm 21 years old and now that I'm 26, it's like I've seen it, been through it, dealt with it.

And if anybody asks questions, at the end of the day, when it happened with JB, I texted the group and told them it's just an opportunity for us as individuals to do what we have to do and step up and go play and do something for ourselves. Because the situation is going to hit us all, whether we want to or not but at the end of the day go out there and do what you can do and compete and make it hard for them to not want to make those changes but at the end of the day you never know what happens. It's above us.

Q. The role that you were given, you're here now, but A-Rob gets bumped up, too. How is he doing? How is he handling that? He missed a lot of action last year and this isn't really the position where he was drafted to play.

ADOREE' JACKSON: What's crazy is, you know, I got here, I watched his film and I saw him at UCF, and I was like, damn, this dude can press, he can play well. And I saw where he went to Alabama prior, and I said that's why he's pretty good because you're really good if you're an Alabama DB. A-Rob is very talented and you know, it's all about working, and I think your aspect coming from wherever you're coming from or where you get drafted to eventually playing one day play and being ready.

I felt like A-Rob stayed the course when he was banged up and came in and played and played highly well and put that on his resumé now, so when a situation happens like this, it give him an opportunity to come and play. Felt like he did what he needed to do, continued to work hard, continued to stay himself and stay focused throughout the whole process.

Q. Can you be a shutdown No. 1 corner in a defense that asks you to play a lot of man coverage, so what is your confidence level that you can be that guy?

ADOREE' JACKSON: It's me believing in myself and the confidence that I have is put in the work. Confidence come from mentally and physically being prepared so at the end of the day, no matter what the situation is, no matter what the task is, you go out there and you're confident in your prep and mentally being prepared what you're doing, the sky is the limit. At the end of the day, it's on you. So you can be physically prepared, but if you're not mentally prepared for the task, it's not going to get done. The same thing vice versa. You can believe it but if you didn't put in the work physically and get all the reps in, then that won't happen.

Q. How do you think you can get better?

ADOREE' JACKSON: I think all aspects of my game can get better. Improve communicating. Alignment, assignment and technique.  No matter what I did good, I good, I can get better and whatever I did not as well, to try to focus more on that and improve more on that.

It was crazy talking to Steve Smith today, he was talking about whatever you do, try to make a play a day and the play that you think that you did well, you look on film and it might not be as good as you think. And the play that you didn't think was good, ended up being as good play. Coming in and taking everything personal. Treating that first rep like it's the last rep, having that mentality. Improving the aspect that every play is my last play and going out and giving it my all.

Q. Was that Pick-Six a play you thought you did well?

ADOREE' JACKSON: For sure. What's crazy is before we actually talked something similar about that in the meeting room about the quarterback being under center and watching the moves and what may happen. Quick game, or if it's play-action, a deeper, developing route. What's crazy is before that play we actually was talking about that in the film room and we come out here actually seeing it. That attests to how do you get better. We always talk about taking the classroom to the field. So I saw it, listened to it, and then you actually see that route, but I listened to it. Understanding that it's that first move, second move, third move, trying to react, and talking to Steve Smith about that. That's a testament to Steve and Coach Wink and Coach Rome about trying to take the next step to the next level by dissecting everything.

Q. I thought zone concepts were a myth in this system? I thought it was all man.

ADOREE' JACKSON: I feel like everything, it turns into man at the end of the day. Whoever comes down and I'm playing whatever it is, zone, I've pretty much got them, I end up matching. Let's say we're in third down. Third and three, third and five and we're in the zone, and let's say he calls Cover 3, you're not just going to bail and protect your third unless that dude runs a – it's third and five and he runs an eight yard out. You're going to match it because it's third and short. You're not just going to stay in your third because that's what your task tells you to do. At the end of the day, it's about being a football player and understanding what's going on.

CORNERBACK AARON ROBINSON

Q. What kind of opportunity do you feel like you have in front of you this year?

AARON ROBINSON: Definitely a great opportunity. Pretty much just come to work and seize my opportunity to get better every day, and be around some great guys.

Q. What are the particular adjustments for you technique-wise, mindset-wise, going from the slot to the outside?

AARON ROBINSON: I try not to think (that it's) too much of a difference. Except now I've got more sideline to work with. Other than that, it's pretty much -- pretty much feels like it's coming along.

Q. How does that play in your advantage having more sideline to work with? Why do you like that? AARON ROBINSON: Just being in the slot, there's more green to work with. Us being DBs, the sideline is our friend. So that pretty much sums it up.

Q. How much as a cornerback are you going to be asked to do different things in the scheme?

AARON ROBINSON: Not too much. Just to do my job and get my job done.

Q. There's a feeling though that you guys are going to be left on an island a lot more. Do you sense that or is that -- do you think it could be kind of similar in that regard?

AARON ROBINSON: I'm not thinking about it too much. Cornerback is a cornerback. You're trying to defend your turf. I'm going to try my best to do that the best way I can and get better every day.

Q. What's it like going through the last couple of weeks, months, really, with James's (Bradberry) situation playing out and how that may or may not have affected you, depending on where he landed and what happened with the team?

AARON ROBINSON: I wasn't thinking about that, not at all, this off-season. You know, just working on my craft trying to get better for myself and my opportunity whenever it presented itself.

Q. How do you describe your rookie year? Was it frustrating you missed all that time? Did you feel like you got a lot out of it towards the end when you were playing? How do you look back at your first year?

AARON ROBINSON: Definitely a learning experience. A lot of it was mental for me at first. I had some great guys around me helping me and bringing me up until I was able to get back out there and help them anyway I could. Just from a mental standpoint – everything was pretty good, though.

Q. How much outside corner did you play at central Florida or Alabama before that? How much outside corner have you played in your life?

AARON ROBINSON: I'd definitely say I played a lot of outside corner. I'd definitely say I played a lot.

Q. Following up on that, I know you actually snap-wise played more outside corner than in the slot last year but overall you didn't play a lot. When is the last time -- when is the last season when you played a lot of outside corner?

AARON ROBINSON: Last season, I mean, whenever they needed me. I played in the slot, outside, whenever they needed me.

Q. So your final year at Central Florida, were you mainly a slot corner? When is the last season, the most recent season, when you played a lot of outside corner?

AARON ROBINSON: A lot of outside? Last year for sure was a lot for me.

Q: (inaudible)

AARON ROBINSON: I'd definitely say the opportunities are going to present themselves. It's a great scheme. Still learning. Still getting better every day, learning.

Q. How important do you think it was, the whole new regime comes in, you missed so much time last year, that (Defensive Backs Coach) Jerome (Henderson) stayed here and sort of vouched for you and knew what you were capable of, even though it may not have shown on the field because of your injury. How important was that for you to be where you are right now, playing with the ones?

AARON ROBINSON: My main focus was to just get better every day, show up to work and whatever I needed to do to get better and get back on the field, I tried my best doing that and everything else pretty much played out for itself.