Chiefs CB Gaines is starting to become king of once-dreaded 'Island'
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A year ago, nine months ago even, The Island was a scary place, a bad place. A place where Phillip Gaines walked around with a cloud over his head, like Charlie Brown. Only instead of a cloud, it was a sign that read THROW IT THE HELL HERE in giant, neon red letters.
"I was just getting beat on plays that I (was) used to making," the Kansas City Chiefs' second-year cornerback says of his first spring and summer in red, 2014, when the torch jobs started early. "And what they saw on film in college, I just wasn't doing it. I knew I had to bear down and get better and just start making those plays."
Coach Andy Reid recalled a two-day stretch last spring, about this time on the calendar, when Gaines, then a rookie, couldn't set so much as a foot right. If he pressed, they threw it over his head. If he backed off, they threw it in front of him. If he pursued, he found an angle that got him picked out of the play.
It got to the point where veteran cornerback Sean Smith took pity on this kid out of Rice, going everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"But I know for Phillip, personally ... he started off a little shaky," Smith recalled recently. "But once you step on that field and the lights are on you and the cameras are rolling, your name is on your back.
"And I told him, 'Look, man, you are the boss of your business. This game is your resume. Whatever you need to do to get yourself better, let's do it. So if you need extra work in the meeting room, let's do it. You want to go on the field and talk, let's do it. I'm here to help you, however. You've got Al (Harris) and Emmitt (Thomas) as your coaches. There are so many tools you can use to get better.'"
The preseason brought another round of humility, but Gaines got up and dusted himself off. Week by week, piece by piece, little lights started coming on, dots connecting to other dots. A good special teams day during Week 3 at Miami cranked the confidence out of the ditch. Injuries forced him into the starting secondary, usually as a nickelback, where he garnered a positive pass-coverage grade from the scouts at ProFootballFocus.com in four of his final seven appearances in 2014, and a +1.8 pass-coverage grade overall.
"And that was a position (nickel) that we really weren't sure was really his best position," defensive coordinator Bob Sutton noted. "But he went in and did a great job stepping in there. And I think that really helped him. He got a chance to get on the field, he got some exposure in there, and I think that settled him down."
The training wheels came off. The weakness became a weapon.
"Once you kind of get the defense down and know what you're doing," Gaines explained, "you're not really thinking anymore -- you're just playing. And once you get that down, you can do what you usually do. And that's just play fast."
Fast, he gets. Fast, he knows. Wind the tape ahead to a few weeks ago. Matched up with Pro Bowler Jeremy Maclin on a deep sideline route during a practice, Gaines made a point to close quickly, recognizing almost exactly what was coming.
Specifically, he recognized quarterback Alex Smith's shoulders dropping back -- a tip he wouldn't have processed a year earlier.
"So I knew it was a fade," said Gaines, who dove to break up the rainbow before it could reach Maclin's fingers. "So I knew I just had to get out there and drive and just try to find the ball. Once I did that, it's up to you to make a play."
Some players shine during organized team activities, shorts and shells, and some players STAND OUT, all caps, in a good way. Gaines -- who appeared in 13 contests as a rookie in 2014, starting five -- has been gaining traction, nationally and locally, in the latter club, turning hips and turning heads.
"He's smart and he's fast and he's got good hips," Reid said recently. "He hit a low during training camp (last year) where nothing was going right for him for about two days there. And then he kind of picked himself off the mat and whether he rearranged his thought process, whatever it was that took place, he just kept getting better from that point. And he had some good downs for us last year and now coming out here, he's jumped right in and he looks terrific."
He feels terrific, too, thanks to an offseason lifting and diet program under the auspices of strength and conditioning coordinator Barry Rubin, who helped him bulk up from 182 pounds then to 188-ish now. Even at 6-foot-and-change with a slim frame, Gaines says he could take on five or six more pounds and maintain his quicks.
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"(It helps) just getting off blocks and stuff. You know a lot of teams are going to fast screens, switchblade-type plays," Gaines said. "(More) weight always helps you when you're trying to disengage from a blocker."
A stronger Gaines is a better, more useful Gaines -- which is good, given that the Texas native could well be in line for more usage than ever. Top corner Smith is expected to receive a suspension related to a 2014 DUI incident, likely to be served at the start of the regular season, potentially pushing everyone else on the depth chart up a peg. The Chiefs drafted cornerback Marcus Peters out of Washington in the first round and corner Steven Nelson out of Oregon State in the third, but neither has been able to attend OTAs because of the academic calendars at their respective universities.
One man's absence is another man's window.
"You're trying to solidify your situation anyway," Gaines said. "Regardless if it's a first-round (pick) or a seventh-round (pick), if the seventh-round comes in and beats me out here, the best player is going to play. It's about putting your best work out there and seeing what happens."
Then: Fear. Now: Fearless. The Island isn't paradise yet. But for Gaines, it's nowhere near as lonely as it used to be.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.
