THN caught up with Matt Bowen at the Redskins mini-camp on Sunday and had a chance to get in a couple of quick questions about the off-season and the upcoming season:
THN: Matt how are the safeties shaping us this year?
BOWEN: We look good, we just added TD (Tony Dixon) and to have that kind of depth and experience goes along way. You saw last year in 16 games that anything can happen, anyone can go down at any time and you need quality and depth and every position.
THN: How are you feeling physically?
BOWEN: I feel good, I still have a month before camp, that will give me a little more time to keep strengthening my knee.
THN: How did Mini-Camp go for you?
BOWEN: Good, the off-season is so important for veterans. You always have to work on your craft and improve your technique and this is the time to do it. When training camp comes around you’re not working on technique anymore, your getting ready for games. You’re getting ready to prepare for scouting reports for teams. This time of year is critical in the overall ability of you as a player.
THN: On Friday Jon Jansen talked about not feeling all the way back until he put on the pads and get his first contact. Do you feel the same way?
BOWEN: Yea, you run around in shorts and a helmet, it looks nice and sounds nice, but when you put your pads on that what makes a football player, what what we do in the games. Basketball players don’t play a game without the ball. Obviously, when the pads go on, that’s the physical aspect of the game. Coming off an injury, that’s key because I haven’t been hit for a long time, since October. You need that for your confidence that your knee is alright, you need that as a player.
THN: Was there anything that you picked up mentally about the game, since you were out of it physically?
BOWEN: There were a lot of positives, first you have to accept the injury, you have to move on, and it’s part of this league. I learned a lot from Coach Jackson and Coach Williams. I study the game more; I made third down reports for the DB’s every week, by doing that it helped me realize that I wasn’t seeing everything. When I studied the game, it was almost like a game in itself, the game inside the game, it was great.
THN: Yesterday Coach Williams talked about the process that the Redskins have for an injured player to get back on to the field, he called it the best he’s been associated with in his coaching career. He said you weren’t due back until today, but that you haven’t missed any time this off-season. What do you attribute your early return to?
BOWEN: Like I said, accepting the injury and moving on. Working hard with the great training staff we have. Everyone has been real supportive and it just happened a little quicker than we thought it would. It feels good to be back.
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