Dre Kirkpatrick’s 2015 season wasn’t exactly what Bengals fans were hoping for. After an offseason during which Kirkpatrick was built up to extraordinary heights, his on-the-field product didn’t match the hype.
It’s unclear whether that was due to playing through injury or simply being unprepared for life as a full-time starter, but what is clear is that Kirkpatrick wants to do better in 2016, his fifth NFL season and a contract year.
According to ESPN's Coley Harvey, one way Kirkpatrick is working to get better is by training with former NFL Pro Bowler, Champ Bailey. Last week, Kirkpatrick spent four days in California training with the former Broncos stand-out.
Kirkpatrick believes his work with Bailey taught him things he'd never learned before, partially due to the two clicking and being able to relate to each other in a different way than Kirkpatrick does with his coaches. "It's just a different eye from what I had been taught," Kirkpatrick told Harvey of Bailey's analysis. "It made a lot of sense."
Prior to arriving in California, Kirkpatrick sent Bailey his 2015 game film so that they could pick it apart together.
"We watched film together, and it was mostly about just picking up on the small things, like as far as how my stance is at the beginning [of a route]," Kirkpatrick said. "I'm opening the gate too fast. He had seen where he wanted me to stay more square, to be more of an aggressor, because of my long arms and my length."
Different players and coaches have varying techniques in teaching and it seems like Bailey’s words and on-the-field work clicked with Kirkpatrick, who believes he has "pretty much the same personality" as Bailey.
"I just never heard it in that terminology to where I could understand it as good as he put it," Kirkpatrick said. "He was actually on the field showing me a few of those things."
Anything that can help Kirkpatrick to become a better player in 2016 is welcomed and it can’t hurt to be training with an experienced and proven cornerback like Bailey.