Q. How has your offseason been reflecting on your rookie season?
EVAN NEAL: Offseason was good. I got some time to rest. Spent some time with family. Did a little traveling. Rookie year, learned a lot. Gained a lot of experience. Proud to be out performing.
Q. You worked this offseason with Willie Anderson. Could you talk about the work he's done with you, what he's taught you? And do you feel more comfortable -- have you found a stance you are more comfortable with?
EVAN NEAL: Working with Willie was cool. (Indiscernible) gained a lot of knowledge, Pro Bowl player, playing around with my stance, seeing what's comfortable, what's not comfortable. The stance that I can be functional out of and explode out of and stuff like that.
Q. How much do you think you -- I know you're not going to make excuses -- but your knee injury limited you last year. How much was that a factor?
EVAN NEAL: It was a factor. A lot of guys get dinged up, banged up. I wasn't the only one out there (indiscernible).
Q. How did you guys hook up with Willie Anderson?
EVAN NEAL: It was on Instagram, through Instagram and stuff like that. We've been connecting and stuff like that. We knew each other -- we knew of each other prior to us working and stuff, but really from social media.
Q. Getting comfortable, how did you work on your stance? How did it change a little bit?
EVAN NEAL: Like I said, just seeing, widen out my base or narrowing it or just seeing what's comfortable. You've got to be functional in your stance and be able to move efficiently out of your stance. That's what we were trying to find, find a place that I'm quick out of, that's comfortable for me, a stance that I can get in and repeat rep after rep after rep.
Q. Is that something you're trying out or something that you are now doing?
EVAN NEAL: It's something that it's a continuation. Just going to continue to get work, to continue to work and get better. And just in every facet of the game, regardless of whether it's my stance or my hands or pad level or whatever.
Q. Is that something you're eager to do, hey, I want to get better, see what I can tweak? Or when you have success doing stuff technically one way some guys might be resistant, I guess, to make any changes. Like, I've gotten this far doing it this way.
EVAN NEAL: I'm open to change. In this league, you've got to be able to adapt. I've done a lot of things that work for me in the past. I've done things that haven't worked so well. So this is just another one of those things, you're trying something new, just seeing how to get better.
Q. What about the speed of the game, Evan? That's usually a big challenge for a young guy when they get to the NFL. How did that slow down for you? What did you do to help slow that down?
EVAN NEAL: When it comes to that, it's just really reps. It all boils down to reps. The more I went out and played, the more and more comfortable and confident I got.
Q. Kayvon was out here before, he made a point, he said this year versus last year, this year you actually know and feel what it's like to play in the NFL -- how strong guys are, how fast they are. Did you pick up the same thing once the season ended and come out here knowing now I felt it, I can come out here and tinker with what I've got?
EVAN NEAL: Nothing is a surprise now. I know what to expect. I know what an NFL-level game is. And just doing what I can to go out there and perform and play well. So it's definitely good that I got the experience I did last year, carrying it over into this season.
Q. About the stance, did you not feel comfortable in the stance last year? It seems like a big thing to adjust. How did you come about doing that?
EVAN NEAL: I feel comfortable but with anything you want to refine it to the point where you get better before (indiscernible). It wasn't the fact that I was uncomfortable. I was analyzing my game and I was like, okay, maybe if I tweak this part of my stance maybe I'll be able to get to my pass set quicker or maybe I'll be more balanced when I take my pass sets. Really it's just a refining type of thing.
Q. You were also making the transition from the left side. You played the left side the final year of college and switched to right side. There had to be an adjustment there, I think, no?
EVAN NEAL: Going from a left-handed stance to a right-handed stance, thankfully I've done it before. I played three different positions at Alabama. It wasn't that big of a deal.
The main thing is I feel like it's your hip alignments, stuff like that, just making sure that my hips get back adjusted to the right side. That's the biggest thing.
Q. Forgive me, how much were you working with Willie Anderson? Was it a week-long thing? Was it like months, all offseason? How much time did you spend together?
EVAN NEAL: He came up here, we worked for a few days watched film, got on the field, worked some different technique things. We have dialogue, we keep in contact, keep in touch, talk ball. Not everything has to be physical.
Q. So it was up here?
EVAN NEAL: Yes.
Q. Did you stay up here? Have family, where did you train?
EVAN NEAL: I was here. I was there, spending time with my family. Having a little bit of fun. And I was working.
Q. I know the contact has been limited, but what's it been like testing out stuff with guys like Kayvon, who came in last year; obviously he was really good? How is the iron-sharpening-iron process going?
EVAN NEAL: It's always fun when you go up against another body. Easy for me to go out take pass sets against air, but those walk-through speeds, you get to go through the feel of how are you feeling, just my balance, my base, like my hands and my feet, how everything is matching stuff like that. So it was cool. Even though that his walkthrough base at this point, really iron sharpening it too much when you walk it through. But it's still good to go through the motion. Get the muscle memory and reps.
Q. You said you were proud of your rookie season. But there was still some adversity. What are you proud of the way that you handled it or --
EVAN NEAL: Yeah, I'm sure adversity is a part of everything. Just battled with some things, whether it be injuries, having to miss time, stuff like that. Playing through, like, bad games and things like that. I just like the way that I was able to be resilient through it all, finish the year strong, didn't complain or anything. Went out there every Sunday and gave it everything I had. I was really proud of that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports