Last year at this time, Denver Broncos star cornerback Chris Harris Jr. was knee deep in rehab…literally.
After partially tearing his ACL in the playoffs, Harris was on the recovery grind all offseason and aimed for a return when the regular season began. He ended up having his best season ever, and earning a pretty nice pay day.
Harris made the Pro Bowl and graded out as the best cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, ahead of the likes of Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman. I’m sure Revis and Sherman would rather have their Super Bowl rings than the recognition, but it’s important nonetheless and a driving force for the — still — underrated Harris.
This offseason, he’s able to be with his teammates at the facility, working out, preparing for the new season. He’s excited about the new defense under Wade Phillips and spoke to the media on Monday about his regimen in 2015 so far.
“Just being able to just improve my game. Right now, still trying to make sure my leg is even stronger coming into the season. It’s a lot of mental right now, really just learning the defense the best that I can as fast as I can right now.”
Not unlike the offensive side of the ball, Harris and his defensive teammates are adjusting to a scheme and philosophy change on their side of the ball. He talked about how he and Aqib Talib are going to be heavily relied upon this year due to the fact that they will be on an ‘island’ while other players are being aggressive.
He didn’t go into a ton of detail as to what that meant, but he was pretty clear about the fact that It’s going to be on his shoulders, along with fellow former Kansas Jayhawk Talib, to capitalize on the aggressiveness of the other players on the defense.
“It’s going to rely a lot more on me and Talib to make plays.”
Harris seemed extremely excited about that fact, and it wasn’t long after he answered that question that he was asked his thoughts on what might have happened if he had hit the market.
He didn’t exactly hold anything back…
“Everybody knows if I had hit the market I wouldn’t be here!”
It’s true. The Broncos couldn’t afford to let Harris get to the open market because they would have been significantly out-bid. Just look at the contracts that were given to Darrelle Revis and Byron Maxwell compared to the one Harris agreed to, and you’ll see why his is a jersey worth owning or putting on your kid.
This is a guy that people can look up to.
He’s not hurting financially, by any means, but Harris stressed that Denver is where he wanted to be, and that’s where he’ll be for the foreseeable future.
Also included in the foreseeable future for the Broncos are Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, and Bradley Roby. The Broncos have made significant investments in their secondary the last few years, but none more so than those four aforementioned players, Harris included.
He feels like they can be the best unit in the NFL, especially with this new style of defense.
“The sky is the limit for us. If we come out and play with great technique, great communication week in and week out, we should be the best.”
Part of being the best ‘unit’ is ensuring that 2014 first round pick Bradley Roby is on the field as much as possible, and that appears to be the plan of action. Harris told reporters that it’s all about making sure you have the top 11 guys out there at any given time, and Roby is included in that.
“It’s about getting the best players out there on the field. A lot of times we’re going to have six DBs out there on the field. Roby can play safety or corner, I can play safety or corner, K-Webb can play safety or corner…just having your best athletes on the field, you want the best guys out there.”
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What’s most exciting about having Wade Phillips as the defensive coordinator is going to be the aggressiveness. We don’t know what that will look like compared to Jack Del Rio’s scheme, but it’s been a common theme among any defensive players that have spoken this offseason. They have all talked about and singled out the fact that the product on the field is going to be much more ‘aggressive’ than last year, and Phillips apparently has something he calls ‘activate’ where a player’s role could change or increase…
We’re not quite sure, but don’t feel bad about it, because neither is Harris.
“I’m excited. Just going through the defense, I’ve already looked ahead. I’m going to be able to make a lot of plays. I’m excited for Wade Phillips to activate me to make a lot of plays…
“Hopefully it means call my number to go make a play, go blitz — do everything. I’m still learning what ‘activate’ is too so I’m excited to learn.”
When Harris is not being ‘activated’ he will likely still be doing a lion’s share of work at the corner spot. He is excited to be freed up in one on one situations to make plays and do what he does best while the rest of the players are attacking the quarterback and forcing quick decisions.
“Everybody else is going to be a lot more aggressive. I’m going to be on an island…In the slot, I’m still going to be blitzing, playing man, doing everything I always have been.”
Everyone wishes Harris would have been ‘playing man’ or ‘doing everything he always has been’ against T.Y. Hilton in the playoffs. He says he was bothered he wasn’t covering him in the biggest game of the year.
“Oh yeah, you always want to cover a guy like him. That’s why God put me on this earth was to cover guys like him. We’re going to play them again, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be on him this year.”
In addition to being excited to play against Hilton, Harris mentioned his excitement to finally play the Patriots in Denver this year, though he doesn’t really care who the Broncos open up with when the schedule comes out on Tuesday evening. It’s all about winning games and ultimately, winning the Super Bowl.
That’s why they paid him the big bucks.