(SportsRadio 610) - Bonding and building relationships with teammates are priorities for Texans second-year safety Jalen Pitre.
He has been lauded as one of the up-and-coming defensive backs in football after picking off five passes, recovering a fumble and leading the team with 147 tackles last season. No NFL defensive back had more tackles than Pitre, in part because he was playing with one of the worst run defenses in football, reflected most by the linebackers and defensive line.
Pitre spent a lot of time working on his game, including a stint in Hawaii a few weeks ago with fellow second-year defensive back Derek Stingley Jr., Cobi Francis and Christian Harris.
They worked out under a program run by Stingley's father, but as you might imagine, they also play a lot of the EA Sports Madden video game.
In the video game, in which Pitre reluctantly acknowledges Stingley has an edge, they are taking in mental reps just as much as entertainment.
As Pitre explained, Stingley's prowess on Madden, understanding route concepts and what everyone is doing on the field, is indicative of how intelligent a football player the Texans' No. 3 overall pick from last year is.
"I think the biggest thing a lot of people can't really see at corner is the smartness and his ability to understand everything that's going on around him," Pitre said. "He's one of the smartest corners I've ever played with. We play Madden a lot together, so I can obviously see it on there. He knows the route concepts, every route concept there is. He knows coverages. He knows football, so it's always good to play with a guy who understands the game from a holistic standpoint."
Notice Pitre brings up Madden unprompted, as a way to support the idea of Stingley's football intelligence. It was worth a follow-up, just to see how the game can be used for mental reps.
"Madden helped me a lot," Pitre continued. "Believe it or not, a lot of the route concepts, really all of the route concepts that these NFL teams are running, it's on the game. So when you're playing around, these are plays the offensive coordinators are picking. Obviously, their knowledge of the game is a lot further than us, but these are the same plays. So if you can continue to see that, continue to put that in your mind, then when you get out on the field and start seeing it, it's going to start to click.
"I think it's just a good rep for you just to get on Madden and look at stuff. And obviously it's fun, too."
