WR Cedric Tillman (5.12.23)

What’s been more of a whirlwind for you, the draft weekend or everything since draft weekend?

I would say draft weekend. When I finally got picked up by the Browns, things kind of cooled off a little bit. I came up here, met all the coaches and stuff, and just got prepared to come back here today. So, yeah, I think definitely draft weekend.

 

What do you hope to accomplish this weekend?

Just learning my teammates, learning the plays, just showing the coaches how much I care about football and just overall buying into the Cleveland Brown culture.

 

We talked about your size when we talked to you during the draft, but how important is that to your game? Do you feel like it’s kind of a dimension that maybe this receiving core needed that you bring to it?

This receiver corps was good before I came here. I’m just going to try to look after those older guys and try to fall after them. But definitely I do think I bring something to the table my size, my ability, what I can do. So just trying to make plays for this offense.

 

Were you ever close to just shutting it down last year and not playing through what you went through?

No, me getting the surgery, the goal was always to come back and help my team win a championship.

 

Can I just follow up? Were you asked that in the pro interviews?

Yeah, a couple of teams, coaches wanted to know, but like I said, my goal the whole time was to help my team win a championship.

 

You’re in number 89, anything behind it or what was available?

Right now the number is available, but I’m not focused on a number right now. I’m just focused on, like I said, buying to the Cleveland Brown culture and ultimately getting a spot on the team.

 

What is the tight rub surgery?

It’s a procedure guys like Tua and stuff like that have gotten. Basically, it just kind of takes it from six to eight weeks to four to six weeks, depending on how you heal. So that’s why I got the surgery.

 

What exactly is tight rope surgery compared to, I guess, regular angle surgery?

I’m not really a doctor. But like I said, I did it to get back on the field, so that’s pretty much what I know.

 

How much have you gotten into the playbook at this point?

I’ve gotten to it a lot. Like thy said, that’s the number one thing. You can’t be out there if you don’t know the plays. So just studying the playbooks with other receivers and other guys here, that’s my number one priority right now.

 

What’s your first, I guess, impression reaction when you get that and you start thumbing through it and looking at the terminology, looking at the route trees and things like that?

It’s definitely different. But like I said, I had a lot of different coaches in different offices while I was in college, so it’s nothing I can’t handle.

 

What’s the big takeaway for you of the conversations you’ve been able to have with some of the other receivers and when you’re digging into that playbook?

It’s just a lot right now, we’re all new, we’ve got to get used to the system. We’re a little bit behind the pack, but that’s okay. So right now it’s so important for all of us receivers just to stick together and learn to play a book together.

 

What does it mean to have Marquise Goodwin, who is a veteran, right? So you’re a rookie, he’s a veteran, but you’re both coming in at the same time. Has that been any help to have him there with you?

Yeah, for sure. I haven’t talked to him personally, but the things I’ve heard about him, I know he’ll definitely be a great mentor for me.

 

Do you intend to stay next week?

Yeah, absolutely. I know my schedule, I know there’s some things on it, but whatever they tell me to do, that’s what I’m doing.

 

Does this feel like a job?

Yeah, I think it does. It kind of just hit on me, like, dang, this is really my job. So obviously it’s a fun job.

 

Is it important to keep that balance of having as much fun with a game you love to play?

Yes, sir. Obviously is a football sport, I love to play. Obviously ultimately I want to have fun, but at the end of the day, it is a job and business.

 

Have you and Dorian spent a lot of time together since you guys both got drafted?

Absolutely. We’re both from Vegas. We’re literally like 10-15 minutes away from each other. It’s still crazy that we’re both here.

 

Does it help you and him are both kind of learning the playbook together as a quarterback-receiver and that you’ve had that relationship before? Can you guys kind of work together to kind of learn it together?

Like I said, me and Dorian, this isn’t our first rodeo. We played together four years in high school, so just having that relationship with him is cool.

 

What was the offense like in high school?

It wasn’t as this big, but it was definitely a spread offense and stuff like that. We like to throw the ball around, run the ball.

 

Similar to Tennessee?

No, not Tennessee. Tennessee’s offense, I would more say it’s tempo offense. That’s how I would describe it best.

 

How successful was your high school team it must have been pretty good?

Yeah, we were real successful. We had other guys like Bubba, he’s one of our other teammates on the team. We won, I think, nine straight state championships and a couple of national championships so we were pretty good.

 

A lot of WR from the SEC have made immediate marks in the NFL. Jamar Chase didn’t even play that COVID year in college and he made a big impact. Is that encouraging to you that the learning curve isn’t what it used to be?

Yeah, like I said, me, myself, I have goals for the year. I want to come. I want to contribute for the team and that’s what I’m going to do.

 

What is it about the SEC that seems to really prepare players like yourself for this?

I haven’t played yet on this level. But I think definitely we have the best competition. I think you go against the best week in and week out. So they always say the SEC has the most drafted guys every year, so I think that has something to do with it.

 

What’s the biggest adjustment a receiver has to make? What do they say is the biggest thing that a receiver has to overcome making that jump from college to the NFL?

A lot of people say just the speed and attention to detail. You’ve got to be smart. So I’ll say those three things. College, you can kind of get away with things here and there, but we’re going against the best week in, and week out, one mistake could cost you that game.

 

What does it mean to have ten catches for 200 yards against that Georgia defense?

It was really cool. I went out there, did my best, but like I said, that’s in the past now. Now hopefully I can do that for the Browns.

 

When you were being recruited at Tennessee, was that a selling point to you, that, hey, all these guys come out of the SEC to go to the NFL, would they sell you with that?

Yeah, I knew already, going against the best of the best, I would have to go to the SEC. So luckily I was able to have an opportunity to do exactly that.

 

How much of a challenge was it to get through last year with and did you wonder what is this going to do to my pro career?

No, I just control what I could control. Injuries happen as part of the game. Like I said, my job is just to show up week in and week out and prepare. Nothing but happy actually for Hyatt and what he did. A big brother, my little brother to me. So, like I said, that’s in the past now and just keep preparing for now here.

 

Were you totally healthy for the combine and workouts that you did?

Yes, I was healthy.

 

 

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