Sourdough Sam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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"He's a great teammate, he's a great player and he's a great person," Sherman added. "He's a guy who doesn't complain very often. If you said, 'Hey, you're playing d-line today.' He'd be like, 'OK cool, where do I stand?' He's a guy who goes to work, brings his hard hat every day and gets the job done. ... He is a tremendous player."
Colbert and Witherspoon are in similar situations despite playing different positions. Both had strong finishes to their respective rookie campaigns in 2018 before underwhelming as Year 2 players in 2019. Robert Saleh attributed some of their regression to their respective mindsets of "I got this." Sherman called those the three most dangerous words in football.
"It was a humbling experience last year (for them)," Sherman said. "This league humbles you. It exposes everything. You've never 'got it.' I'm nine years in, and I get humbled regardless."
Now he sees Colbert and Witherspoon re-focused entering Year 3. The difference is that they'll have to earn their starting roles after entering as presumed starters in 2018. Colbert will have to beat out Ward at free safety. Witherspoon's top competition will be Verrett and second-year corner Tarvarius Moore.
"I think they have a lot more respect for the way you approach this game and what it takes to play at a high level," Sherman said.
The next month of OTAs and minicamp are merely the prelims. The main event won't begin until training camp opens in late July. But it's still good to hear that, at least according to Sherman, the secondary is trending up heading into 2019.