Q. Your role in adapting to Lovie's scheme?
DESMOND KING II: Just come in here and do what I'm supposed to do. Brought me in here for a reason. Lead the team the right way. I'm a vet now, so it's just about doing the daily things each and every day and doing it the right way and leading from the front by example.
Q. How would you grade your coverage game so far?
DESMOND KING II: I'm just getting back used to it. I haven't done it seriously for two years now. It feels good to get back into a rhythm with that and just work out the kinks and just getting better at it.
Q. You've got to score this time of year.
DESMOND KING II: Absolutely. Absolutely. Got to, got to. Whenever I touch the ball, that's my mindset is to get in the end zone. I never choose the option to go down. I like to stay up, get as many yards as I can, and hopefully get to the end zone.
Q. What's it like playing with Tavierre Thomas? You're long term friends both being from Detroit.
DESMOND KING II: It's good. It's a comfortable level, I feel like. Just having him there and knowing I've got somebody that I can trust and knowing he's going to do his job. Hopefully, I get to build that relationship with the rest of the players that's on the team and build that confidence in them as well.
Q. What do you think about the secondary, especially at cornerback? You guys have made a couple of moves the last couple of days. How are you guys feeling about that room?
DESMOND KING II: For now, I feel like the room is very comfortable, very used to everybody in there. As far as the personnel, who's coming in and who's going out, I honestly don't know anything about it.
Q. Well, just --
DESMOND KING II: The room, we're building that relationship with everybody in there. That's as much as I can say for that. I know that we all believe in each other. We're all going to make each other better. We're going to be there to support and compete against each other.
Q. What are the challenges for you pulling double duty like that, playing secondary, punt returns, and all that?
DESMOND KING II: I mean, the value, the value of a player, the more you can do, the better it is for you, yourself, and the team. As long as I can contribute to the team's success, I'm down for it.
Q. We've heard a lot about the system, people talking about it being like acting on instinct and being able to play free. How do you describe it from on the inside?
DESMOND KING II: We preach it getting take-aways on our defensive side. We got seven in the last two preseason games and just trying to improve off of last year, knowing that it was only nine last year and now we've got seven in two games. It's very, very impressive by our team and knowing what the message is every time we take the field.
So I feel like that's what our goal is this year is to get the ball for our offense to put them in good field position.
Q. Do you feel like the turnovers and just how effective you guys are with that is just about as much as a mentality approach as it is schematically?
DESMOND KING II: It's more of a mindset. Like I said, it's how we approach the field. That's our message each and every day. We want to get the ball. We want to take the ball away from the other offense and win the turnover margin.
So the more turnovers -- the more take-aways you get as a defense, the better chances for your team to win. That's our message, and every time we take the field, that's what we want to do.
Q. Did you know the stat nine turnovers last year? You know that because Lovie is preaching that number to you guys?
DESMOND KING II: Absolutely. Coach Lovie, he's a turnover mindset guy, take-away mindset guy. His defense is built on having eyes on the quarterback, having those zone instincts. So what we want to do is be able to play fast out there on the field and get the ball.
Q. Facing Tom Brady and the Buccaneers on Saturday. Does that mean anything? It's a preseason game. Do you think it potentially show where you guys stand as a defense?
DESMOND KING II: New season, new team. That's the goal here. We're just trying to go out there and compete against each and every team. Never underestimate anybody. We want to approach the field each and every week the same way.
Q. Is there anything -- compared to other teams, is there anything Lovie does emphasize in practice that actually --
DESMOND KING II: Just the take-aways. He want his players to go out there and be comfortable playing. That's what we're doing. He wants us to play fast, play smart, and play physical. That's how we're going to play.
Q. You guys won the turnover battle the last two preseason games. How can that actually carry over into the regular season and building up your confidence?
DESMOND KING II: The more you do it, the more it's going to come. Like they say, the turnovers, they come in bunches. Once you get one, once you get two, they're just going to keep rolling in. You've just got to seize the opportunity whenever the ball is in the air and go get it.
Q. It was often called like a four-three most of the time you're out there. How would you describe your relation to the front, the secondary? Where do you fit in?
DESMOND KING II: As a nickel, we're definitely one of the more vocal guys on the field knowing the personnel, knowing what the D-line do. Our job in the run fit, our job in the passing game. So it's like we're also the quarterback of the defense. So we're just doing what we've got to do, and that's being the communicator of the defense and making sure everybody's on the same page.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports