COURTESY OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS PUBLIC RELATIONS STAFF
On getting drafted by Cleveland:
“It is a great feeling to be a Cleveland Brown. Excited to be a Dawg and join my LSU brothers there already. Excited to win some games and make some plays.”
On reuniting with former LSU teammate CB Greedy Williams:
“We go back all the way back to practice 2017. I miss my dude. It is going to be great to play with him again. It is going to great to have one of the best secondaries in the NFL also. I am looking forward to it.”
On Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry being impressed with him at the combine and if he established a real connection with the Browns there:
“I think we had a special connection. I try to be myself in all the interviews. I do not try to fake anything. I think they really just liked that, and I can tell we were on a good page when the meeting was over.”
On also joining former LSU WRs Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry and if Cleveland is turning into ‘little tigers’ in the north:
“It is turning into big tigers are up there (laughter). They call it the LSU of the north. Now, that is really turning into truth. I can’t wait to compete against those guys and seeing we are so close – we are So close to winning. We just need a championship mentality. I am going to bring that to the defense, for sure.”
On playing through injury and how it impacted his tackling:
“I’m so tired of hearing that I can’t tackle. I might tackle you for asking that question (laughter). I had a high-ankle sprain in the middle of the season around Week 7 or Week 8. It was tough. On Sunday mornings, I could barely walk, but I wanted to be there for my team. I think that me being hurt was something that I wasn’t worried about. I came to LSU with my dream. I was not going to let a sprained ankle keep me from off the field when we were trying to win a National Championship. I wanted to show all my brothers that I wasn’t selfish, and it worked out.”
On looking forward to playing in the NFL and proving he can be reliable when healthy:
“I can’t wait. Now, I have something to prove. For me going into the season and dealing with this adversity, coming out a better overall man and a better overall football player, I’m so excited to get back on the field. You don’t even know. I pray that this virus exits itself from existence, but I’m just ready to play football.”
On if he ever considered shutting himself down due to the pain and soreness from his high-ankle injury:
“I literally had to. Arkansas, I sat out one game. After the Ole Miss game, I got up and I had to just lay back in bed because I couldn’t walk. I don’t want to make [excuses] for it, but it was a hard injury that I had to deal with. We sat down with Coach O (LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron) and (LSU Director of Athletic Training) Jack Marucci, and Coach O said, ‘It is best that you sit.’ I really couldn’t practice full speed on Tuesdays. I had to wait until the end of the week to start practicing full speed. It just wasn’t going right. Towards the end of the season, I got a little bit of rest and started playing on it better, but it still wasn’t 100 percent.”
On if he proved something to himself playing through injury, including that he may have been tougher than he realized:
“Without a doubt. I wasn’t going to let a minor injury keep me off the field when we were undefeated and really in general be there for my defense and be there for my team. I definitely proved that to myself, and I hope I did to others, too.”
On remembering when he had to leave New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina:
“I remember. I remember we got into the car and drove to Memphis, Tennessee first. We just thought it was going to be a couple of days, and then we were not able to come back and drove from Memphis to Houston. It was a tough time, but we got through it and it worked for the best.”
On where he lives now:
“I’m back in New Orleans. My family moved back when I came to college, with my little sister.”
On the Browns 2020 defensive backfield and if they will be the new ‘top dogs’:
“Without a doubt. Top dogs in the NFL. We are coming in with that swagger, with that mentality and really a dog mentality – pun intended. I think that we are going to have the best secondary in the NFL with Greedy, (CB) Denzel (Ward). I am coming in with that mentality and win as a team and defense.”
On if he said the Browns will have the best secondary in the NFL:
“The best. You can headline it, all caps (laughter).”
On the draft experience after not being selected in the first round:
“It was a humbling experience. It was. I was not having high expectations and I am not saying I expected itto go in the first round, but I do not think my play on the field relates to that. It is all about team needs at the end of the day. It was a humbling experience. I am just blessed to be Brown at this point. I could not gone to a better organization.”
On if he believes his 2018 year may have been overlooked by some teams during this year’s draft:
“Yeah, I guess teams draft after one year now – I am playing (laughter). I think that year was a great year for me. I was healthy. That was probably the biggest difference, but I did play a lot of free safety this year. It was just showing that I could do it and showing my versatility on defense. It worked out.”
On if he hopes to offer the Browns great S play rather than good S play, given the team hasn’t had great S play in a while and his confidence he can do so:
“It is just has to do with you as a person. Me as a person, I have 100 percent confidence that I am the best player on the defense at all times – this was in college and even as a kid growing up. I always said that, and I showed it. I do believe that I will be the best and bring that to the team and make everyone around me better.”
On the AFC North having some all-time great Ss in Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu and players who he models his game after:
“They had great safeties in this division. Like you said Ed Reed, Ryan Clark for the Steelers, Troy Polamalu for the Steelers and the list goes on and on. I am really excited to be able to step into that division and make my mark. Hopefully, it ends up in a lot of wins and a lot of shut outs.”
On the attitude, swagger and intensity of LSU players:
“I think we bring a great locker room presence, as well as being dogs on the field. When you go shopping as GMs and coaches, LSU for sure produces nothing but great athletes, great people and a great general attitude towards the game, as well, so you are getting a playmaker of course but also a great guy.”
On how Landry and Beckham can help make him better:
“They are the best of the best. There is not really much more I can say about that. They are great in the locker room. Showing a guy like me the ropes, I am looking forward to it on and off the field.”
On if he is looking forward to playing against former LSU and Bengals QB Joe Burrow twice a year:
“I’m very excited to pick Joe off twice a year, three times a year, however many times we meet (laughter).”
On being a leader in LSU’s locker room, the significance of it to him and what he can add to the Browns’ culture:
“Very serious, I take that very serious. One of the guys that [didn’t teach me] how to be a leader but taught me how to think like a leader is (Tampa Bay LB) Devin White. He came out my sophomore year, and he really just told me some things I could do and told me some things I could work on to become a better leader and ultimately bring that to the league. I have a lot of phone calls to make and a lot of guys to talk to, but [I want] to bring the things I do to win and anything I can do to help the team.”
