Here's a transcript from cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens' interview session with local writers earlier today.
MIKE MICKENS
How was Styles’ move to cornerback presented to you?
“I always knew he was a very good athlete since he first got here, seeing him move around. When I look at receivers, I can kind of see if that guy can play on the other side of the ball. It’s mental. He wants to help the team and be a great football player. He wanted to come over, dabble in the corner world. He’s growing every day.”
Has Styles’ role expanded since we talked to Marcus Freeman on Saturday?
“It’s exactly what Coach explained. It’s a play here and there with it. A little bit more today obviously. Besides that, it’s just been here and there with it to give him a little taste of it and continue to go. He’s a good receiver, a good corner. We want to make sure we keep growing him as a football player.”
Did you recruit Styles as a CB at Cincinnati?
“I was in the transition when he was getting all those offers. I knew he always had been a good player, and I heard we had a guy from Ohio, the Columbus area, that was coming. I started looking at him a little bit and was like, ‘OK, yeah. He’s a really good player.’ He played a lot of ball for us at receiver and did a really good job there, too. That’s the great thing about it. He’s just an athlete who can play a lot of different positions.”
What kind of growth have you seen in Chance Tucker? He said he likes press coverage in the boundary. Is that something he’s been asked to do more?
“We’ve had him in the boundary a lot this spring. You can see the growth in him from last year to this year. He’s only going to get better. He has done a lot of good things. I know he hasn’t played a lot of ball, but I do treat him as more of a veteran. Understanding what I want in the system that way versus a new guy like Christian Gray.”
Did getting elevated from the scout team last year help his focus?
“Understanding that he’s a play away, that’s the biggest thing. You want to create great depth in the room and play multiple guys in the room. How you earn that is obviously out there. But him understanding that he’s a play away makes you focus a little bit.”
What are some of Ryan Barnes’ skills at cornerback? Do you care which side he plays?
“He plays both sides. He’s a guy that has to know all positions just because of the depth at safety a little bit, nickel a little bit right now. I use him a lot as a utility guy because he’s long. That’s what we like about him. Because of his length, he can cause disruptions at safety, at corner, at nickel and those areas with it. Boundary corner is what he’s doing corner-wise. He will be on the boundary, because he’s so long to get around. Same at nickel and safety.
Who do you have working at nickelback?
“C-Lew is there. He played a lot of it toward the end of last season. He’s very dependable. He’s having a great spring, doing a great job with hit. That’s what you love about that. You have a veteran guy who understands the system and understands what we want him to do. So we have him there. T-Harp has come over. That’s a great thing that now we have two guys who can really grow at that position and help us in the fall.”
What are the teaching points for Benjamin Morrison after he had so much success last season?
“All the details. It’s still a detail deal. Corner is so technical that you always want to continue to grow detail-wise, route recognition-wise, release-wise, things of that nature. That’s what we’ve been focusing on. He understands the expectations. He’s a very competitive kid, a very mature kid. He’s doing all the work on the field, but he’s coming in off the field just like last year to continue to grow with it. That’s the great thing about it with him.”
How can Morrison’s playmaking ability rub off on the rest of the group?
“They see it. They see the success. It becomes contagious. They see a counterpart having success, going after the ball, making game-changing plays with it. That’s the mindset. That’s the mindset we want in the room where you can get it. That’s what we challenge. When I’m in this position, it’s not good enough to just have a pass breakup or lock him down. We’re in this position to go get interceptions.”
Can making plays be coached into someone like Chance Tucker?
“It’s mindset and learning to be aggressive. It’s also about when you have success doing it, now you understand that you can do it. After he has success a couple times, it goes.”
What about Jaden Mickey makes him a guy you can continue to trust after some mistakes last season?
“How I look at it and how I approach corners is that it’s a bumpy road. You’re going to have adversity at some point in time. I don’t care who are you. You’re going to get beat. It’s how you respond to it. I have the most confidence in him. He’s a mature kid. He comes to work every day on the field, off the field with studies. It’s growing through that and understanding why it happened, and then keep growing from there. He didn’t lose his ability or anything. It’s a bumpy road.”
How good of a sign is it to see him trash talking again?
“It’s great. You want a confident corner, however you display it. He’s more vocal. Ben is more quiet. Cam might be a mix. However you display your confidence and get you in a zone, I’m good with it. But I love to see that he’s competing and he’s going to work and having a good spring.”
How’s Christian Gray handling his setback with surgery? What did he show this spring?
“He’s doing good. He’s going to attack it mentally. That’s the great thing about it with him is just because he’s hurt doesn’t mean he can’t grow mentally. That’s what he’s doing. He’s doing extra meetings and finding ways that way. He has to attack rehab. Yeah, it’s a setback, but come back stronger for it. He will. He had a good spring, obviously did seven practices and grew from practice one through seven, which is encouraging. I’m excited about him in the fall.”
How do you keep up with Micah Bell?
“We do some meetings over the phone. He understands that. When he came up, he was able to sit in and understand some of the defense already. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to hit the ground running — fast, I guess, like he does. But he’ll be good.”
What does DMM mean? What’s the importance of it for the cornerbacks?
“Deny my man. We use that in a way of if it’s man, deny your man in man. If you’re in zone, deny your man in zone. Off the field, if it’s a paper, deny your man and get it done. You just want to make good choices, find a way to get it done no matter what. No excuses, get the job done. We take that motto every day, along with our creed of playing with great effort, playing fast and being violent. We do those things every day. That’s the standard in our room.”
What’s it like covering Chris Tyree? What kind of threat is he?
“He makes a good threat. Speed in the slot, quickness, really good route runner. He’s really good in the slot.”
He was confident about running routes last year. Is that something that just comes natural to him?
“It seems like it. He’s good with how to set you up. You have to account for speed. He has speed to get on top of you if you let him.”
How is it reuniting with former Cincinnati teammate and running back Butler Benton?
“It’s great. Always good to reconnect with old teammates. He’s a great person, great human, works hard. It’s going to be good to have him.”
What’s your favorite Benton story as a player?
“Very productive. Back then, I was only a buck-70, and he was about 220-something. I didn’t want to cross too many paths with him tackling. He was a great player, great energy, brought a lot of energy to the team. Obviously, he was playing since he was a true freshman, so very good player.”
What can Styles do this summer to put him in a position to compete in fall camp?
“We’ll just grow him mentally, grow him with technique. That takes a little time. Repetition is a big part of that. Having a mature group, they’re going to help him a lot in the summertime, getting out there with techniques and things of that nature. Mentally, we’ll progress him. Part two of that creed is play fast, so knowing what to do and understanding the little details. That’s what we have to do.”
Is there a challenge in learning what Styles can do as part of the defense and knowing his responsibilities?
“Just understanding what you’re looking for in each coverage and why you’re doing it. That will be his learning curve, but as you get repetitions of it, he’ll be fine.”
What have you seen from Jaden Mickey this spring?
“Just confidence. Maturity. He goes about his business every day, works hard. He’s a very competitive person, which I love about him. He wants to win every rep. That’s what you want in the mindset of a corner, that he can make every play.”
What stands out about Styles in one-on-ones?
“He’s very quick. He’s very strong. That’s what I’m realizing about him. He has a strong punch, which is effective when you’re pressing. He understands route recognition a lot right now. He’s a confident kid already, so you can tell that he wants the ball, too. So it’s good.”
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