Cornerback Deshea Townsend did not intercept a pass in the NFL until his 60th game, when he picked off Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch twice in the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 28-7 victory on Jan. 6, 2002. <\/p>\n
The former Alabama <\/a>standout went on to intercept 19 more passes in regular-season play and get two in the playoffs. He\u2019s seventh on the Crimson Tide\u2019s NFL interceptions list.<\/p>\n Now the defensive-backs coach of the Detroit Lions, Townsend works with another former Alabama cornerback, Terrion Arnold<\/a>, a first-round draft choice who did not have an interception as an NFL rookie in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know how it is,\u201d Townsend said<\/a>. \u201cOnce you touch it one time, they come in bunches. But when you play man a lot, a lot of times your back is turned. So therefore, a lot of times, you\u2019re not looking at the man, you\u2019re trying to go from transition from man to ball, which a lot of times doesn\u2019t go in your favor. <\/p>\n \u201cBut I just think for him, it\u2019s just that growth, being patient, that they\u2019ll come. And when they come, you got to create them other ways. But when they come, they\u2019ll come in bunches.\u201d<\/p>\n Only three NFL rookies <\/a>played more defensive snaps than Arnold\u2019s total of 948 last season. Opposing quarterbacks threw to receivers covered by Arnold 90 times<\/a>, tied for the 14th-most in 2024, and completed 50 passes for 660 yards and four touchdowns. He incurred 11 accepted penalties \u2013 seven for pass interference, three for holding and one for facemask.<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime you get a chance to have as many reps as he had, it helps you,\u201d Townsend said<\/a>. \u201cThe only way you can get better is to get a chance to rep. And he understands how they\u2019re attacking him, and he found out about himself. Like, what do I do best? How can I make those strengths more stronger? And then my weaknesses, what do I do now this offseason to make them better? <\/p>\n \u201cAnd just conversating throughout the process before he got back, and then he grabbed me right now, we was in the office watching tape just now, so he is trying to be the best player he can be, and that\u2019s what it takes. You have to work on your craft. You have to find out how you can get better in the offseason, and he\u2019s working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Townsend said he and Arnold had targeted areas for improvement to focus on during offseason work. <\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest thing for me is tracking and locating the ball,\u201d Townsend said<\/a>. \u201cI think as the season went, you saw some of the pass interferences go down. But our next step is: How can we get the ball back to the offense? How can we transition from man to ball, from it being a PBU to an interception? And so that\u2019s some of the things that we talked about and some of the things that we\u2019re working on to see how we can improve it. Like, when do I take a peek? When I\u2019m in phase, go ahead and look, those type of things that now he understands and he can play a little bit more — have a little bit more freedom and go take a chance to go make some plays.\u201d<\/p>\n FOR MORE OF AL.COM\u2019S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1<\/a>.<\/p>\n