Who is Van Dyke's biggest fan, and critic?

NAPA -- There's a seeming, well, wholesome honesty to DeMarcus Van Dyke that endears him to the fans.Take Tuesday for example, when the second-year cornerback who wears his Miami hometown pride on his sleeve let reporters into his personal life when talking about his offseason."I went home and my mama told me, DeMarcus, Im your No. 1 fan, but you dropped too many interceptions last year,'" Van Dyke said. "So this year, Im trying to work on catching the ball and turning my head when the ball is in the air and stuff like that."RELATED: DeMarcus Van Dyke career stats2011 Game logs
Two practices into training camp and Van Dyke has already shown greater awareness on the field. Tuesday, he timed a Carson Palmer pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey perfectly, arriving on Heyward-Bey's back just as the ball did and knocked it away.Keep in mind, the speedy Van Dyke, who ran a 4.25-seconds 40-yard dash at the Combine last year, is getting reps with the No. 1 defense at left cornerback, what with Ron Bartell nursing a strained hamstring. And Van Dyke is not disappointing."Last year, it was kind of crazy," Van Dyke said. "We were locked out and all of a sudden I got a phone call saying I was on the next flight to Oakland. So, it was kind of difficult and I was kind of nervous. Having OTAs this year and the minicamps and having guys like Shawntae Spencer, Ron Bartell and having great coaches, Im just taking everything they tell me and putting it on the field."Im just trying to make plays to help my chances of being a starting cornerback. Thats what Im trying to do."About the only goal Van Dyke failed to reach this offseason was gaining more weight."I tried to aim for 190 (pounds) but I came in at 185," he said. "So Im pretty cool with that."But back to what Van Dyke's mother said. Indeed, he had one interception last year, a third-quarter pick of Kansas City's Matt Cassel late in the third quarter of the Raiders' 28-0 loss to the Chiefs in Oakland on Oct. 23.So with this new scheme, will there be more opportunities for interceptions for the likes of Van Dyke?"Our defense is kind of a blitz defense," he said. "So you've got to be careful and watch where youre looking at and try to get a break on the ball and make plays."Mama agrees.