TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Wi-Fi connection where ASU cornerback Kweishi Brown lived last season wasn't great. The senior doesn't use that as an excuse for not studying film on his iPad, because Brown does not make excuses -- even fair ones about a very real and difficult transition from junior college.
But Brown not working around a bad Wi-Fi signal, at the time, symbolized his room for growth.
He's fixed his spotty internet access. His iPad is his best friend.
"Coach used to ask me, 'You even watch film?' because they check," Brown said Thursday. "But I would come up to the stadium and watch, and (the coaches) don't see that part."
And yet ...
"I could have watched a lot more."
Hindsight says Brown could have studied harder, but he nonetheless won the cornerback spot opposite Lloyd Carrington early last season. Still, he finds himself regretting how he handled his first season at the Division I level.
"Yeah, I was getting my feet wet my first year, but I should have come in and dominated right away," Brown said. "I only have two years. I can't get that year back, but I can only do that much better this year."
Brown enters his second year as a Sun Devil knowing he has all the potential to be an All-Pac-12 performer, and this spring he's proven to be one of the more sure things on the ASU defense. His hold on one starting corner spot says a lot considering the defensive line and linebacker competitions could unearth new starters, even though the front seven lost only one significant contributor, end Marcus Hardison.
On Thursday, Brown played with the first-team offense but stayed on the field to play nickel with the backups. Listed at 6 feet and 206 pounds, Brown fits coach Todd Graham's ideal for a cornerback, a physical cover man able to break receivers by pressing them at the line of scrimmage.
"He's got great size for a corner," ASU defensive coordinator Keith Patterson said. "He's continued to improve his technique. He's a complete football player, he can tackle."
Brown hears all the compliments. He's confident in his upside but won't boast about where he's at now. Instead, he's harsh in his self-assessments. He admits to overthinking in practice and lacking confidence in games last season.
To this day, Brown admits to fighting consistency issues.
When Brown got burned for an 80-yard touchdown his first start, against UCLA, he responded well against talented receivers of USC and Stanford. Patterson will say, ironically, Brown's coming out moment was that loss to the Bruins, in which he performed well outside of that one play.
Brown put blame on himself for ASU's upset loss to Oregon State in November.
"Everybody sees when you mess up," he said. "It sucked but it was on me. I could have done a lot better."
During Tuesday practice, coaches barked at Brown when he grabbed a receiver streaking across the middle.
"I get kind of anxious, and I start reaching and stopping my feet," he said. "Especially as a corner it really screws you up. The receiver is going, their momentum is coming at it, you stop, and they get by you. That happened a good amount of times ..."
Maybe there's room for growth on the field, but the biggest reason to believe Brown will improve upon a year where he tied for the team lead with three-interceptions (he also was second in pass deflections and breakups) comes in how he prepares.
This is where that iPad comes in. These days, he takes the tablet everywhere. He watches everything, gets in his opponents' skin.
"One thing I started to do at the end (of last year), I would look up the receivers I would go against, watch their interviews ... just get to really know them, see how they talk," Brown said. "It actually really helped me."
Thank a strong internet connection, and moreso, Brown's desire to search such Wi-Fi accomodations out. The next step is letting Graham's coaching connect with Brown's flashes of promise that, with a late interception against Duke in the Sun Bowl, ended ASU's 2014 season on a high note.
"I'm still doing the things he's telling me not to do," the self-critical Brown said. "That's all in my head. Once I get that down, it's going to be game over, but until then I still have a lot of progress to make."
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