CB Greg Newsome (11.29.23)
What do you think about this?
“I love it, man. It’s just another opportunity. I feel like [it’s] kind of like the Greenbrier where we’re just able to be with each other for a whole week. New spot. It’s just the difference is we got to just find a new routine. You got therapists and different things in Cleveland that you don’t have here, so you just kind of got to adjust to that.”
Joel (Bitonio) mentioned that there’s so many new guys that have come in over the course of the season that it’s almost like a second chance because of – to get to know some of those new guys. Do you see it that way?
“For sure. You try to find a positive and everything. So, like you said, it just gives us another chance to bond with each other, spend some quality time away from our families. A lot of our families aren’t here, so just another chance to get to know some other people.”
Especially with, like, an early bye week that you guys had. Is it sort of helpful to sort of not reset, in a sense, but kind of re gather yourselves before this last stretch of the season?
“For sure. And there’s no better to do it in sunshine. It’s been amazing for us so far, and we’re just going to continue to get fresh, and it’s been a great trip.”
As you guys have looked at the Rams offense, what stands out especially for you guys in secondary?
“They got one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. We kind of don’t look at stats. Like, if you look at his stats, you’re probably be like, ‘Oh, he’s not doing too well, but he’s one of the best quarterbacks that we’ve faced. He was facing some injuries, and now he’s back healthy. You know, we definitely got to watch him and just be ready to go each snap. We want to get (Matthew) Stafford.”
Joe Flacoo has been here now a week plus, and Coach (Kevin Stefanski) said he’d be the guy if DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) isn’t ready. What have you seen out of him? Just throwing it out there, especially today, he’s with the ones.
“He’s a veteran. He’s done it for countless number of years. He took teams to the playoffs, Super Bowl, so we already know what to expect when he’s on the field. Super excited for him to just be in the building. Just another veteran presence that has gotten to that point and a point that we wish to go to.”
Denzel (Ward) – questions still about whether or not he’ll play. How do you guys feel like you played without him last week? And how important is it going to be to get him back as soon as possible, especially considering the receivers the Rams have?
“It’s always important to get him back, for sure. I mean, the best cornerback in the NFL, so who wouldn’t want him out there? Regards of last week, we didn’t play our best ball, but that’s just how the NFL works. Sometimes you don’t play your best game that week, and we’ll play better this week. They got great receivers. Whether he plays or not, we have great corners, so we definitely want him back out there. He’s a huge part to our success, but we just want him to take his time, make sure he’s 100% ready to go when he’s back.”
After the game, we watched Myles (Garrett) really not able to lift his left arm. He left in the sling and it just didn’t look good at all. But is it nice to kind of see him out there, not in the sling and moving around a little bit?
“Yeah, he’s superman. We’re never really too worried about Myles. He’ll find a way. He’s a big part in our successful season, so we’ll let the big fella chill and rest and hope he’s out there with us on Sunday.”
When you went back and watched that Broncos game, on those couple of deep crosses, did you see anything that when you watched on film, like, I should have done this different?
“No it was just technique and eyes. It’s very challenging. A lot of people who watch the game don’t really understand people running crossing routes, running away from leverage. So a lot of that’s just eyes and feet. But a lot of it is on me. I’ll play better this week. I’m not really too worried about it, but now it’s just getting my eyes in the right spot.”
What do the Rams do to get your eyes in the wrong spot?
“Yeah, they run a bunch of motions, run a bunch of stacks and a bunch of stuff offense that features the pads very heavy, so they probably have a lot of stuff to do. But it’s just keeping our eyes and just communication. That’s the first thing, communication and execution. So as long as we communicate, we’ll be fine.”
The young receiver for them, I’m not going to try to butcher his name. What does he add to that passing game?
“Yeah, he’s a reliable target for them out there. Good young receiver. He’ll be great, for sure. But I mean, really, he does a lot of everything. He runs every single route. He catches the deep ball great. He runs great option routes, him and Stafford. For a veteran receiver to give you the ball that much, that says something about you. So now we’re super excited to go against that matchup. For sure.”
What did you think about Jerry West’s speech?
“I loved it. Yeah, for sure. I mean, a guy who, like they said, he’s won an MVP and the team lost the thing, and just to be how great he is and how much he says he just hates losing that much, he hates losing more than he loves winning. So a guy like that, you definitely learned a lot from.”
Is that kind of his main message to you guys?
“Yeah, for sure. He said he hates losing. He said I think he said he’s 85 years old. He said he still hates losing. So that’s definitely my takeaway.”
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