Nickel Back Mentoring Dime Back

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NASHVILLE, TN—Titans nickel back Vincent Fuller announced Tuesday that he was taking dime back Eric King under his nickel-backing wing in an effort to help the fourth-year player develop the coverage skills necessary to play in long passing situations—and in the hope that King would himself mature into a nickel back someday. "Showing Eric the third-down-and-more-than-10-to-go ropes is personally fulfilling, and I think he's starting to feel like he's really a part of the secondary," said Fuller, adding that he was happy to be the kind of trusted situational defense counselor King could look up to. "Mostly I try to share my experiences on the field and emphasize that, even though dime back is only a part-time defensive position, he needs to make the most of his three to five opportunities each game. We've talked a lot about him breaking out of his soft-cover backpedal, working on his tackling, and, uh, the backpedal thing some more." Fuller meets with King three times a week to work with the dime back to eliminate penalties, quiz him about defending routes, and make sure things are going good at home.