Here's everything Houston Texans nickel defender Jalen Pitre said following Day 2 of training camp, including his thoughts onrunning back David Montgomery, the expectation of the defensive game plan and who has stood out in the early stages of camp.
Question: On how eager he is to see the defense this year after last season
Jalen Pitre: “I’m very eager. I think we obviously had a good year, but there are definitely things that we can build on, things that we can correct and things that can help us going forward. We're all having an optimistic look going forward and just looking to improve on what's next.”
Q: On the addition of S Reed Blankenship
Pitre: “He’s a great dude, great football player. He's going into year five and been doing it at a high
level since he's been in the league. We're happy to add him and he's going to do nothing but elevate the room. He's obviously won a Super Bowl, so he knows what it takes to get there. I think that that's really going to help us because we're all trying to get there as well. I’m really happy that Reed is in our room and just looking forward to the production that he's going to have this season.”
On what S Reed Blankenship adds to make the defense better
Pitre: “He’s a versatile safety that can play in the back or at the line of scrimmage. He’s going to make tackles for loss, a hard hitter. He can really do it all, whatever the coaches ask of him. Our coaches are going to give him a set thing that he's going to do and he's going to own it like a pro, like he has in these last four years. Like I said, winning a Super Bowl and being a key contributor for that defense.”
Q: On what RB David Montgomery brings to the offense and locker room
Pitre: “David, he's different. He's different. I remember, going way back, I’m talking about before when we played at the Lions, but we're going to go way back to when I was a freshman in college and we were playing Iowa State. It was the first time I ever saw somebody just get completely ran over as a true freshman. I'm like, ‘Is this for me?’ All the question marks popped up. He's had a great career up to this point. I know he's going to elevate the offense and do a great job for the team this year.”
Q: On whether he has talked to RB David Montgomery about playing each other while in college
Pitre: “Yeah, I talked to him about that when I saw him in Detroit after the game. I was like, ‘I've been watching you for a long time from afar.’ I had a little hit on him and I'm like, ‘I can't slow down when I got to go hit him. I have to bring it.’ We've all seen the highlights that he's had. He’s a great back that can do everything. He can catch it, run it, spin it, truck it, juke it, whatever you want. He's one of them.”
Q: On whether its intentional that no fights have happened at camp yet
“I don't know. Maybe it's just not hot enough right now. When it gets hotter, you'll probably start to see it start happening. I guess it's just not hot enough right now.”
Q: On whether he can already see the advantages of returning many defensive players
Pitre: “100%. Continuity is huge in our room. We know what it takes. We know what it looks like from our Defensive Coordinator [Matt Burke]. Everybody's very open to learning. I think that does nothing but continue to help us evolve and continue to grow into what we want to be this year.”
Q: On whether the defense feels pressure with playing so well last season
Pitre: "From the first play, we step out there in a preseason game. It's about pure execution and energy. Are we swarming or not? It's really black and white with us, black and white with [Head] Coach DeMeco [Ryans]. It's one standard. If we aren’t living up to it, it's going to be known and we will have to get it fixed.”
Q: On what he worked on this offseason
Pitre: “I tried to take a step away. I love the game of football, I'm always very in my iPad and all that. I'm always watching some old clips, always have NFL Network on. I tried to take a step away and when I did, it just turned me up even more. When I got back into it, I was ready to go. That hunger for the game and wanting to be back into it, I definitely have felt it in these last couple of weeks that I've been back. I’m really enjoying the game of football because obviously I do love it.”
Q: On what he has seen from the offense that will cause problems for opposing teams
Pitre: “Iron sharpening iron. Every day out here in Training Camp is a game day. We’re showing up and we’re trying to impose our will on them and they trying to impose their will on us. With that being said, the receivers have done a great job of getting off the ball in run plays, pass plays, making everything look very congruent and the same. They've done a great job at that. The running backs are running hard and good routes out the backfield. [QB] C.J. is doing a good job dominating out of the huddle, making sure that everything is looking smooth in the motions. Everything is looking crisp. I'm excited about what they're going to bring this year. it's been good. You're going to have mistakes, the defense is going to have mistakes, the offense is going to have mistakes, but it's about going from one day to the next day. We had some mistakes yesterday. The offense had some mistakes yesterday, but it's like I already see them growing on stuff already. That only forces you to sharpen your pencil as well because if you don't, you aren’t going to be able to fit in. They are definitely keeping us on our toes and we're excited to go against them every day.”
Q: On who has impressed him throughout the preseason
Pitre: "I'll give a defensive player, I'd say Collin Wright; he's a rookie. He's been nothing but consistent. He's showing up every day, ready to work. I'll shout out 'Hutch' (WR Xavier Hutchinson) too. I go against 'Hutch' a lot and he's nothing but crisp, always challenging me, always making sure that I'm getting better because if not, he’s going to block me across the field or he’s going to step on my toes and get out the break. I got to be on top of my Ps and Qs when I'm going against 'Hutch,' so shout out to him as well.
Q: On the addition of S Reed Blankenship
Pitre: "Yeah, he's smart. He's very smart. I don't know if I added that in the first answer, but he's obviously played in this league for four years, so he's seen a lot. He's done a lot in the different systems that he's been in, and he's made a lot of plays. He's nothing but an open book for us. He's going to ask us questions and we're asking him questions as well. Like I said, I am excited to have Reed here. He's nothing but a good dude, great personality in the locker room and he's done nothing but continue to add to our room. We're stacking on top of each other and we’re trying to build this big masterpiece, and he's definitely been adding to it for sure."
Q: On Head Coach DeMeco Ryans emphasizing the details and playing with precision
Pitre: "Yeah, the one thing that comes to my head when he says that and we have conversations about that is just you don't really have a choice in that it has to be how you live. You can't show up and say, 'I don't want to do the details today in the meeting room. I don't want to do the details today in the training room,' because then it's going to bleed out onto the field. All of it relates and all of it goes together. So, he's definitely been honest about that, and I think that it's done nothing but continue to push us forward and going to continue to push us going in the future."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans DB Jalen Pitre said after Day 2 of training camp
