Q. What was it like to have John here at practice today?
STEVEN NELSON: It was good. Good to have his presence. Some of the guys haven't seen him in a while. Just kind of want to see how he's doing and glad that he's in good spirits.
Q. We've seen some interceptions from you. It's not a new thing for you, but you've played three games. How are you putting it together.
STEVEN NELSON: It's been going good. I'm really pleased with myself. At this point in the process, you never want to kind of peak too early, so I kind of feel like I'm hitting at the perfect time.
Q. How do you approach your relationship with Pierce, young kid, talented, and you're a veteran. How did you approach that relationship?
STEVEN NELSON: Just being a guy he could come to, whether it's on or off the field. That's what I had in Eric Berry when I was in my rookie campaign. Yeah, just kind of being a big brother figure to him, and the rest is history. He can play ball the way he's supposed to play ball.
Q. Has there been a bunch of battles between Brandin Cooks out here?
STEVEN NELSON: Yeah, me and Cooks go way back, as some of you know. Very competitive guy. I'm a competitive guy. For the most part, it's about getting us both better and prepared for the season.
Q. I know you were already asked this question. What did the team feel about seeing John?
STEVEN NELSON: It gave us a lot of hope to see him in good spirits. When you have cancer like that, that can bring, especially a young guy down, anybody for that matter. But it was good seeing him.
Q. What is it like to see the defense come together in the last game? You got six sacks on the defensive side of the ball, played some pretty good coverage at the end.
STEVEN NELSON: It was good to kind of see a glimpse of what we could be and what this defensive team could be like moving forward. To get that going in the preseason is good to see.
Q. You're saying the front seven is a defensive back's best friend. So what have you seen from your front seven?
STEVEN NELSON: Definitely. Those guys are workaholics, man. They're all dogs. They all want to get better. They all want to light up that stat sheet, man. So, hey, go ahead. It's fine by me.
Q. Has anybody jumped out at you? You see these guys every day in practice on film in the receiver room. Who has surprised you so far, especially the young guys?
STEVEN NELSON: Obviously Nico Collins has made some big plays in camp. You saw a big catch he made in preseason.
It's a lot of guys, a lot of young guys. Camp has done some great things in camp. That's funny, Camp and camp. It's a ton of guys. I can't just name them all, but they've all been doing pretty well.
Q. Toughest guy to cover?
STEVEN NELSON: On the team? I mean, they all come with their own skill set. I think every receiver is challenging because, as a DB, we're going backwards, and they know what they're going to do. That's where I'll leave that at.
Q. Being a vet cornerback, can you talk about going against Nico and bigger guys, Cooks, big guys? How do you help them develop the zone, the man, and going against different size? How do you help develop that instinctually? I know it's not your job but being out there.
STEVEN NELSON: Pretty much help him understand formation-wise, personnel-wise, down and distance. It's a lot of things that goes into it on pretty much telling him how offense is going to attack at any given point much that's my biggest thing to try to help him out with.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports