"Next question."
"Next question."
"Next question."
Those were the first three answers from Darius Slay on Thursday after the cornerback reported to training camp following a mini contract standoff with the Lions.
Nope, he's not talking about the situation that hung over the team like a cloud for the past couple months -- how close he came to a new deal, how disappointed he is in the outcome, how seriously he considered holding out.
All Slay had to say on the matter was this. Underpaid?
"Everybody in the world know."
Indeed, the two-time Pro Bowler is the only cornerback in the NFL with at least 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended over the last two seasons. But he ranks 13th among players at his position with an average annual salary of $12 million.
He has two years remaining on the four-year, $48 million extension he signed with the Lions in 2016. Fact is, the team has no incentive to pay him more now.
Likely realizing his lack of leverage -- and surely wanting to avoid fines of $40,000 per day -- Slay, along with Damon Harrison, backed down and showed up for camp. The duo was placed on the non-football injury list Thursday so the Lions can ease them back into action.
Asked when he might begin practicing, Slay said, "Whenever I feel better and everything gets right."
There's no rush at this point, of course. And the Lions can trust Slay will bring it when camp heats up. Few players on the team, if any, are as driven to win as the high-energy 28-year-old.
When asked, Slay made it clear his contract situation will have no bearing on his play this season.
"It won't impact nothing. I'm going out there to dominate," he said. "I play for the name on the back of my jersey and this organization and my teammates. Nothing's going to stop me from what I'm going to do on the field."
Sounds like Slay.
But as the subject turned from his contract to his goals for the season, Slay, sporting a fresh buzz cut, showed a new side of himself. In the past, such as last summer when he talked about making the Hall of Fame, he would have brought up his personal ambitions. Then he would have mentioned the team.
As he heads into his first season without mentor Glover Quin by his side, Slay's taking a different route.
"My goals this year? Be a better leader," he said. "Be more vocal with the guys, just helping these guys be better than I am. That's my goal. Just try to get these guys -- Teez (Tabor), (Jamal) Agnew, all the young corners that just came in -- I just want them to do a lot better than what I did. That's my goal, just making sure that they succeed and are better than I was."
Wait, what about the picks? What about the All-Pros and Pro Bowls?
"That's going to come," said Slay, confident as ever. "I ain't stressing all that. How that gets there, it gets there. I ain't worried about it, so that's good. My goal right now is to really try to get these young guys to my level or exceed it. If I don't, I feel like I'll be kind of a failure -- because I want to make these guys be great just like I am."
The Lions have question marks at cornerback beyond Slay, and he seems to recognize that. There are no such questions in the front seven. If the secondary does its part, the Lions could have an elite defense. Slay wants to do everything he can to make that happen.
Detroit did sign a couple veteran corners in Justin Coleman and Rashaan Melvin. With Coleman set to play in the slot, Melvin has a chance to start on the outside opposite Slay -- a job that is very much up for grabs.
However Coleman and Melvin contribute, Slay said they're already helping him fill Quin's leadership void.
"Little pressure off my shoulders because this is really my first year of stepping into the role of a leader with GQ not being here, which I miss so much," he said. "It was hard to walk on the field without my dog today."
He walked out there with the same contract he did last season, and maybe a new focus. Now that he's back with the team, Slay's ready to ramp up his role.
For anyone wondering about his level of commitment to this team, he might add: Next question.
