Corey Webster on the team’s progress through day 4

Following day four of training camp, cornerback Corey Webster spent time with the media discussing the team’s progress. Here’s a transcript courtesy of Giants.com.

Q: How strange is it having Aaron Ross gone and then back?  It seems like he never left.
A: Another new, old face (laughs).  No, I mean it happened so quickly, it seems like he’s been here the whole time, like we never really missed him, always kept up with him, what he had going, me and him have a very close relationship on and off the field, but I’m happy to have him back and hopefully we can pick up right where we left off and get back to playing our style of football.

Q: It seems like he slipped right back in there…
A: Yeah, right back in there.  It’s easy when you’re a guy that you’re comfortable playing with, a bunch of coaches that you’re used to being around so it’s easy to get right back into things and try to get better and the way you were when you left.

Q: A lot of your defensive back teammates have been talking about the emphasis placed on improving communication, can you talk a little bit about what exactly you’ve been doing to improve that?
A: Well, just communicating.  We just left from a meeting and that was one of the words that I heard at least about ten times that came out of Sam Madison’s mouth, you know, ‘communicate.’ You have to communicate, and he was talking about different things so communication has to be at its best.  We should communicate on every play and that was one of our faults and the reason why you give up a lot of big plays, but I think this year we took a great emphasis on being a great communication team, turning one of our worst things into the best things and I think it’s going to pay off when it comes to the season.

Q: When you talk about communication, obviously, it’s making sure everyone’s on the same page and hearing the same thing.
A: Yes, ma’am.  I mean if you’re all wrong, you’re alright.  You know what I mean, if all 11 of us are on the same page, that’s all you need to communicate it doesn’t matter what anything else is being done so if we can keep that kind of communication throughout the year and every play in the game, we’d be wonderful.

Q: You know how it is for a cornerback, and it’s easy to see guys run by you and if you’re the closest guy, you get blamed, so you got a lot of criticism last year.  But when you look back at last year, was it as bad as people say, were you happy, unhappy with your performance?
A: I mean I always want to compete in the championship, that’s what I’ve done a lot of my career in college, as well as here, but, I would never point a finger and say who was supposed to be here, who was supposed to be there, it doesn’t matter, I’m a cornerback… I was always taught to have short-term memory as well.  You know, when I go back and have to defend, I know who was supposed to be where, and we’re all honest, me and Ross, me and Terrell, sit down and we’re very honest with each other, so it may have looked a little worse than it seemed, but it’s all good.  A year, another year to get better and ultimately to win championships.

Q: Was it near your standards personally, do you think you personally played well?
A: Well, we didn’t collect rings last year, so I don’t think anybody played well, well enough to make the playoffs, or well enough to compete for a championship, so we know we have to correct that to get back to that style of play.

Q: You talked about communication, that you weren’t on the same page last year, why weren’t you on the same page?
A: I guess it could be a bunch of different reasons, I couldn’t put my finger on one.  It was a lot of younger guys, a lot of different guys playing with each other, a lot of guys not used to playing with each other… you know you have injuries, so a bunch of things could happen that can cause that but I think this year what we’re doing, we’re starting it right now. In day two and three of camp, we are already preaching ‘you have to communicate.’ If you’re not communicating right, it’s hard to get everyone on the same page and ultimately, hard to make a defense work.

Q: You gave a lot of credit to Sam Madison early in your career for helping you along, what does it mean to you to have him back here even for a few weeks?
A: What is it, infinity times infinity? (laughs) To have him back, you know not on the field, he can see everything now, it’s harder when he’s on the field with you trying to get himself better, but now he’s on the side watching, and he can critique, can be very critical and I use the constructive criticism to ultimately make my game better.

Q: How much is it a motivating factor to have the Super Bowl right here at that stadium?
A: I think playing in the shadows of that, that should motivate everybody to come here every day and work the hardest.  We step outside, it’s going to be there regardless if we’re in it or not, so if that doesn’t motivate you or move you to want to come out here and be the best you can be, nothing will.

Q: Is there a lot of talk around the building about that?
A: No, sir.  We didn’t set the schedule, we didn’t pick the site of it, we understand that’s where it is, so we understand that we’re going to be working hard every day. Everybody goes to win a championship, so that’s where we want to be, there’s no secrets about that.

Q: Is the defense on the spot this year? Because you guys pretty much took the blame last year.
A: You fall to one of the worst defenses in the league, yes, we want to be the top five or even the best defense in the league, so we’re coming out here with those motivating factors for us to get better.

Q: Does that come with an attitude?
A: It sure does, yes sir.

Q: Do you feel that over these first couple days, there is a mood or an attitude specifically to the defense?
A: Yes sir.  It’s an attitude to come out there and be the best defense, you can’t just come out here and expect people to lay down (…) and roll over, so, it is an attitude that we’re committed to and hopefully will help us out later on in the year.

Q: Do you think several guys on the defense may have something to prove this year to show that-
A: I think the entire defense, but speaking of leaders, all leaders want to be at the best, like I said we want to be known as one of the best defenses, want to be known as some of the defenses we had around here a long time ago, the Giants normally are known for their defense, so we want to get back to that style of play, nobody wants to let that fall on their shoulders, you know, not being the best, so we’re going to be out here working hard to do that.

Q: Tuck was saying that maybe the defensive mentality was to rely on the offense to bail them out, that they’ve got to get back to ‘we’ve got to bail out the team’. 
A: Yeah, we have to.  Defense wins championships, offense wins games and sells tickets.  So understanding that, we want to win championships so we have to be the best defense that we can possibly be.

Q: There are a lot of long-time veterans that have been here awhile, won a lot, that are playing possibly in their last year of their contract, and you’re included in that.  How does that affect your mentality going into this year?
A: Nothing at all.  We ought to control what’s going on day by day, we take it one day at a time, just as well as we take it one game at a time, so, with that being said, we’re going to go out here, get better today at practice, and continue to do that throughout the year.