NASHVILLE – Kristian Fulton challenged himself this offseason, and it had him ready for training camp.
When he showed up last month, another challenge was waiting for him – receiver DeAndre Hopkins, one of the NFL's top receivers.
Put the two together and the Titans cornerback believes he'll be prepared for 2023, when he wants to be elite.
"I am coming into every season with something to prove, but definitely this year," Fulton said. "I am not really worried about contract talk, but just as a corner I feel like I am one of those top guys in this league, and I have to go out there and show it each and every week, I know that.
"I feel like my talent is there, and I feel like I can go with the best of them. Whenever I've gone up against one of those top receivers in the league, I pretty much held my own since I came into the league. But it is just about doing it consistently."
Fulton, a second-round pick of the Titans in the 2020 NFL Draft, is headed into the final year of his rookie contract with the team.
During his first three NFL seasons, Fulton has been solid when he's been available.
Injuries have shortened some of his previous seasons, however, so when he evaluated himself after the 2022 season, when he played in just 11 of the team's 17 games, he decided to take a different approach for the offseason.
Fulton ended up working out on his own with a personal trainer, away from the team's facility.
Fulton also hired a chef, and he changed his diet.
He's been pleased with the results since reporting for training camp in late July.
"It was very different, just a different trainer, different setting, different ways to take care of my body," Fulton said of his offseason approach. "(Now) I feel good, like I was in better shape coming into this camp, and I think it shows. I think it has shown with me being out there every day."
The 5-foot-11, 187-pound Fulton said he feels stronger, and he's seeing positive results on the field as well.
"I think that has helped me on the field with my play," Fulton said, "as far as being physical, whether that's at the line of scrimmage or at the top of the route, which is where the route is won at mainly."
Something else that's helping Fulton: facing Hopkins, a five-time Pro Bowler, every day in practice.
"It's a big measuring stick for me, just because he's a guy that has put up great numbers yearly, since he has been in the league, and I don't think he is going to slow down," Fulton said of Hopkins. "With him being one of those top five receivers in the league, it is a great measuring stick to go against him and see what he can get from me, what I can be better at and what I can make him better at."
Fulton, who has played in 30 games over the past three seasons, with 26 starts, still has a month to get himself ready for the start of the 2023 season.
He'll use every minute to work on himself, and to be consistent.
"They can drill it in my head as much as they want, but I have to be the one to want to be consistent," Fulton said. "I have to do things off the field consistently, and that's going to lead to me playing more consistent.
"I have to do everything, from eating right, taking care of my body on the off days, doing what I can after practice, stuff like that, to push me to be consistent day by day."
