Monday, September 23, 2019
(Opening statement) “Today we met with the players, went over some things that we have to do better. I think that’s understandable. They seemed fresh, the players, with a couple of days [off]. We know you’re going on the road, and when you go on the road, it’s tough in this league. And we’re going on the road and we’re playing a team that is a good football team. They have a lot of good players; they have a lot of veteran guys. [Broncos Head] Coach [Vic] Fangio’s a heck of a coach, we’re going to be challenged. And then our focus is right now, just getting our guys prepared, just getting them ready to go.”
(On how you deal with the ‘limbo’ that the team is in regarding Jalen Ramsey as a coach) “I can’t speak for all of the players. I think we all have responsibilities; we all have a job. That’s how I look at it. Other people may not, but that’s basically the mindset that I’m in. I control the things that I can control. I don’t get crazy with the things that are on the outside.”
(On what the player protocol is for being sick) “It’s happened a bunch. They’re sick and they’ll call in, and depending on the type of sickness, they’ll stay away, because obviously you don’t want to get anyone else sick. They’ll go see Dr. [Michael] Yorio and Yorio will get back to us and tell us what’s going [on] and we just take it from there. It’s happened – I don’t want to exaggerate, and say hundreds of times, but it’s happened quite a bit. It’s happened here since I’ve been the head coach a couple times. It’s happened with Myles [Jack], where I was actually in the hotel with him, he stayed there. It’s happened, so to me, it’s nothing as big. But I understand that that’s probably a big story because of the other things that are surrounding it.”
(On when Ramsey is scheduled to meet with doctor Yorio) “Sometime this morning.”
(On if he will wait to game plan with Ramsey) “Right now it’s early, so we’re always game planning with the ones we have unless the doctor says something different.”
(On when he found out that Ramsey was sick) “Just got a message the same way I always have about players [being] sick. I get a message from the trainer.”
(On if he finds the timing of Ramsey’s sickness odd) “I’m not getting into that, odd or anything. If you’re sick, you’re sick, right? What are you going to do?”
(On how you stop Broncos pass-rushers Von Miller and Bradley Chubb) “They’re great players. Not good players, great players. And they have a lot of other good players on that defense when you go through that defense. So again, it’s a plan. You don’t really think about where they are record-wise or anything of that nature. That’s the one thing I think early in the season, you don’t get into that. You just look at the players, have a ton of respect for them, they’re great players and, ‘Hey, what can we do to help ourselves or put our players in a position where they can be successful?’ And I’m sure it’s like anything else in this league, it doesn’t change there. They’re looking at how they can put their players in position to be successful; we’re looking at how we can do it. And then it’s going to be up to the guys, that when they go on the field, being able to execute.”
(On if he watched Denver’s film from their game yesterday) “Yes.”
(On what the impact of RBs Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman is when they’re on the field at the same time) “I thought they did a nice job. It’s going to be challenging for us. I thought that they did a nice job of that.”
(On Taven Bryan’s performance in Week 3 vs. Tennessee) “I feel comfortable. I’ll always tell you guys afterwards if I don’t have a good feel for it; I have a good feel. I think that he’s done some good things and I think that now we’re starting to put him back-to-back and we just want to see that growth continue. It’s very difficult in this league for all players to go from zero to 10, but right now I think he’s doing a nice job. I’m very happy with him and [Dawuane] Smoot, the productivity that we’re getting out of them. It’s been something that’s been building on. He’s been working extremely hard, trying to make sure that he’s doing the best job he can. Same thing, trying to avoid anything that’s being said on the outside, if things are being said, which I wouldn’t know, but just put his nose to the ground and go, and it’s starting to show. Sometimes, some players, it takes a while. You’re not immediately going to get the type of performance you want right away from players. You’d like that; we all would. Some players can do that. I’ve seen players have great years in year one and disappear in year two and everyone’s like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ I’ve seen some players where you can see a little bit of it, but he’s got to play better, this, this and that. So, I think from the outside, people are going to put a label on it, but for me, I look at it as, ‘Where we are today, where were we with a player a week before,’ and then, ‘Where are we going with him?’ And right now, we’re going in the right direction, so I’m excited about that.”
(On if Bryan’s strength is starting to show up on tape) “I think that’s always been on tape. In other words, his strength, his ability to — one-on-one — just be able to penetrate and to knock someone back. I think what hasn’t been there for him as much as he would like, and we would like, is the ability to get off that and make a play. And now he’s’ starting to do that, and that can be something that can really help our football team, and obviously something that he’s working on and trying to do.”
(On his conversations with Josh Oliver) “Obviously, I see him quite a bit. Just trying to get him back. You’ll see today, he’ll be in individual [drills]. During the week, you’ll see him out on the practice field, and then it’s a matter of strength and how much full speed he can do to see if he’s going to be able to play or not. But, you’ll see him back on the field this week.”
(On if there is any concern about Leonard Fournette’s conditioning due to his amount of playing time) “No, actually it’s the opposite. We went into the year wanting to have him out there for three downs. One of the things that’s [been] missed is how much work the kid has put in to be in a position where he can get out there. We just went over [it] today, which would be good for you guys to get better insight, so it doesn’t just come from me. We went in there as an offense with offensive line, the tight ends, the running backs, and really went over the things in this running game. When you look at it, the things that we’ve asked Leonard to do, he’s worked on what he had to do. We all, collectively, coaches and everyone else involved, have to do a better job. I’d be the first one to say Leonard has to do a better job, but we’re not giving him a chance. Until we give him a chance to see what he can do, that’s fine, but he’s doing everything he can. Each week, we’re telling him to do this, and there’s little things that people wouldn’t see that he’s been able to do to help us, yet we have to come up bigger and help him by doing a better job blocking.”
(On if there will be any changes to the offensive line this week) “I think Cam [Robinson] will play more, whether he plays a full game or not, I’ll see how it goes. I really liked the way he played this week. I think Will [Richardson] Jr., it’s very difficult for me to stand up here and say that was a good indication of how he can play because we moved him around so much. So, we still think that when he gets locked in there, there will be competition there. How the week goes, I don’t know, but we will play the best guys on how they practiced, because I do believe the more competition you have, the more it is. As Will gets more locked into guard, I think his performance will be a lot better and be more competitive to push for playing time in that position.”
(On if Myles Jack is still in the concussion protocol) “Yes, he’s still in the protocol. He’s passed everything to this point.”
(On what he wants to see from the offensive line in practice this week) “In practice, you’re in pads one day, you see it, there’s a push. Basically, at the end of the day, like anything in this league, you want to see [the linemen] entering into blocks in good form, being able to finish. I think that’s the one thing, hands inside, that’s the one thing that hurts us. Forget about the running game, that’s hurt us by our hands getting outside, that’s the big thing. We want to get our elbows in and hands inside. Obviously, the holding penalties went down across the board this week. But, again, we have to keep our focus on that technique so that doesn’t come out and get us. That, and communication. We could’ve communicated better. It’s easy to say ‘We had some different guys,’ but that’s a tough excuse. Sometimes you don’t have to communicate when you play [with] someone for a long period of time. Everyone is on the same page, but there is communication in place to be able to make sure that you’re right. So, that’s not really an excuse.”
(On if he worries that the Ramsey trade demand will become a distraction in the locker room and how he will tell if it does) “I think the team tells you. I think [from] my experience, not just with this situation, with other situations, obviously having been a head coach for whatever many years now, is that you focus on the team. You can’t focus on hypotheticals like, ’Hey what about this?’ Or, ‘Is this happening or is that?’ You don’t know, and the thing that happens is when you start changing your emotion on that, or you start leaning one way or the other, you’re not just dealing with what’s actually just happening right on the practice field, in the meeting rooms, in the games. For me, I’ve gotten myself in trouble in the past, so this is more about me, of how I handle things and I just keep a laser-like focus on what I have to do in my role. So, I really can’t answer that question unless I see something.”
(On what challenge Broncos QB Joe Flacco presents) “He’s a guy that’s played quite a bit. He’s won a Super Bowl. He’s seen a lot of things, so you’re not really going to be able to show him something that he would be like, ‘I’ve never seen this before,’ you’re not going to catch him [off-guard]. He’s a really sharp guy, studies the game. Really has a big arm and he can make every single throw, and he can put them into tight windows, so he’s a guy that can light you up. So, we know that it’ll be a challenge for us. If you let him sit back there, he’ll tear you apart. He’s done that before.”
