Tuipulotu has garnered plenty of praise as the offseason has gone along from coaches and teammates alike a year after leading the team in sacks.
And for the young edge rusher much of the expectation for this year remains the same — keep being the Tuipulotu they know.
“I just want him to be himself,” Minter said. “I think he’s got a great personality, he’s got a great vibe to him. Guys like being around him, guys like talking to him, guys don’t mind when he speaks every once in a while.
“He’s ascending into that type of role, and ultimately I just want him to be himself,” Minter added. “If he’s the best version of himself, we’ll be happy with what we get out of it.”
Minter mentioned the growth in things off the field as he does speak up on occasion and has become a respected voice entering his third year.
It’s something that has been noticeable even to someone like the veteran leader of the room in Khalil Mack.
He expects it to continue to grow more and more as time goes on, as his voice does hold a lot of weight in the room when he does talk.
“Tu, he’s a quiet dude. But when he speaks up, everybody listens,” Mack said. “It’s good to see him coming into himself from a vocal standpoint. Especially when we’re on the field or on the sideline, we’ll get the call and he’ll kind of call it.
“He’s always kind of been that guy anyway. Just want to see more from him in that standpoint,” Mack added. “But all in all, everybody kind of knows each other now so there’s a better cohesion out there as a group.”
As even keel as they come, the 22-year-old knows what’s in front of him.
But he’s responding to it like he always has.
“He doesn’t put too much pressure on himself, but he knows that it’s time,” Minter said. “He’s really done that already, he’s started a bunch of games here so it’s not completely new to him. I’m really excited about where he’s at.”
Tuipulotu added: “Just not making it as big as it is. It’s a game, we’ve been playing this for a while, and we love it. It’s not hard to go out there and do your best, this is what we do, this is what we love to do. It’s easy to go out there and just play ball and play hard.”
His goal is simple this year, even with a bigger role — play up to the level of the future Hall of Famer on the other side and wreak havoc.
“My standard is to play [like] Khalil. He is the standard,” Tuipulotu said. “I’m doing my best so there’s no drop off like, ‘Khalil is here, let’s slide to him.’
“We got to make it so there’s two elite edge rushers on the side where we could both go and dominate, they don’t know who to slide to or who to double, who to chip. He’s the standard, that’s what I’m chasing.”