Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks Coach Josh Boyer
(How did you go from South Dakota to New England?) – “It probably started, I would say my coaching career all began with my father who’s still coaching high school football to this day. He’s 40-plus years into it. I got done with college, had to make a decision. I was either going to go into medical school or I was going to get into coaching. I decided to get into coaching and took an internship out in Pennsylvania which took me from Pennsylvania – Wilkes Barre – it was King’s College. (It was) a small Division III school. I think I made $3,000 a year. It was tough to make a truck payment meet. Then I went to the University of Dayton as a graduate assistant. I had an opportunity to meet Dean Pees, who was at the time the head coach at Kent State. I went from the University of Dayton to Kent State, worked for Dean Pees and then really worked in the secondary for Dean while he was there. I had a great mentor there – Mike Drake – who got Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma while we were there, ended up passing away a year later. Dean moved on to New England and I moved out to Rhode Island to coach with a friend of Mike Drake’s and from there went to South Dakota with a guy that was on staff with us at Kent State. When Dean got the defensive coordinator job at New England, he called me and they brought me in and I thought I was going in for an interview and I took like a day’s worth of stuff with me, and I ended up staying there two weeks just working. I didn’t even know if I had job, just working and then Bill (Belichick) told me when the Combine – he said, ‘go get your stuff and come back.’ So that’s how that kind of worked. Again, to me, it’s never been about money. I’ve coached at every level. It’s never been about money. It’s never been about anything other than coaching and just the love of doing it and I’ve never tried to ‘network’ like people call it. I’ve just tried to do a good job at the job I’ve had and really have only really had to interview for my first job and after that it’s kind of progressed that way. All I ever wanted to be was a high school football coach just like my dad. That’s what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be, but this has kind of taken me on a little bit different path.”
(Where does your dad live now?) – “He lives in Ohio, just outside of Columbus.”
(CB Cordrea Tankersley – where is he in his return back?) – “He’s been out at practice the last couple weeks. He’s working hard to get back like all of our guys. The one thing that I would say about this group of guys is the work ethic is phenomenal. The ability to get guys in routines, that’s taken a little bit of time, but I think guys are getting it. They’re getting the big picture. Corner is not an easy position to just throw you back out there and say, ‘okay, it’s football’ and go. There’s a lot of film study. There’s a lot of footwork. There’s a lot of just, you’ve got to make a cut this way, you’ve got to make a cut that way. He’s working hard to do that and we’ll see where that ends up.”
(I know CB Cordrea Tankersley working scout team now. How long is it going to take him to learn the intricacies of your defense?) – “I think the ins and outs of it and what you can do – ultimately as a coach what you’re trying to do is put the guys in the best position to succeed. Like Ryan Lewis has been with us for three weeks. Xavier Crawford, three days. Ken Crawley, three days. I think you can get them ready to play and you kind of limit their role because Crawford, Crawley – they both played for us last week. I think for Cordrea, it’s more of getting back into football playing shape than anything.”
(Other than young, how would you describe your current corps of cornerbacks who are on the active roster?) – “I would say that they have a great work ethic. They’ve got good – obviously the guys that we just got here, we’ll continue to work with those. The guys that have been here, I would say that the key values that we stress are they’re mentally and physically tough, they will tackle and obviously when we have success on the field, you can probably correlate that to tackles, missed tackles, the better we tackle. They’re diligent workers. As a coach, you can’t ask for much more. Whatever it is from week whatever to week whatever; it doesn’t matter – win, lose – our process doesn’t change. Our goals are to get better each day. We’re trying to get better – tomorrow, we’ll come in and we’ll try to be better tomorrow than what we were when we were on the field Sunday. That will continue as we progress.”
(How challenging has it been to mix and match all the moving parts, a lot of comings and goings?) – “Again, I think it comes down to you just try to put guys in position to succeed. Sometimes there’s favorable matchups. There’s favorable coverages or there are certain things that we’ll ask them to do, and there’s a learning process in that, too. Like sometimes okay, they do something well. Then you ask them to do a little bit more and well, that wasn’t that good. Okay, so let’s not ask them to do that, or that was good. Well maybe we can add a little bit more. You’re always kind of trying to find out. I think you just try to put them in a position to succeed. Over the years, I’d say a familiarity with the league, with the receivers, the matchups and things that we’ve been able to do and our guys have adapted very well to that and that’s a credit to them.”
(How pleased have you been with CB Nik Needham as an undrafted kid coming in and playing competently?) – “I would say the thing with Nik, and again this goes for all of our guys, it goes back to the improvement every day. I would say we’ve made some strides from where we were in the preseason to him being on the practice to him actually being on the roster and getting to play. Again, the guys that make the most out of their opportunities are going to get more opportunities and again, it goes back to Nik being an extremely hard worker. He’s lost like 12 pounds since he’s been here. He’s re-shaped his body. He’s gained some muscle mass. He’s worked really hard at it. That stuff doesn’t come easy. I wish it did. I probably need to do some of that myself. (laughter) I’m happy with way he’s working and again, we’re going to keep striving and pushing to improve that each and every day.”
(Are there good instincts with CB Nik Needham? What’s the NFL trait that you all liked back in May?) – “I think if you watch his UTEP tape, he’s an instinctive player. He had a good play style. It was just a matter of assimilating those skillsets into our system. It’s like – our system isn’t for everybody. It’s probably no different than if you’re working for Coke, maybe somebody doesn’t succeed at Coke and then they go to Pepsi and all of a sudden they’re a great executive. I think he had the things like the mental, the physical toughness. I think he had all of those things. I think he was instinctive on film. I think it was just a matter of assimilating to the program and kind of taking his abilities and his mental capacity for the game to another level.”
(When a kid shows up on Monday or Tuesday and you’ve got to get him ready for Sunday, do you live with him for four days? Does he ever not see you? What’s the process like?) – “We as a staff, we spend quite a bit of time with him and we have some good guys that are younger on our staff like (Quality Control) Charles Burks. He’ll spend some time with our DBs, getting them caught on just general information stuff. Then really what you try to do is you try to limit, just get him ready for the specific role that they’d be in that week and then all the other stuff you try to carry over as it…”
(Can you put yourself in their position?) – “Yeah. Again, I think sometimes as a coach you lean on experience and I’ve had to over the years, there was probably a month period where I was getting a new guy ready to play every week. Sometimes it was…”
(Here or in New England?) – “In New England. There are other times that you’re asking guys that are playing on offense to play on defense, so I think again it comes down to the players working hard, giving them credit for putting in time because it’s not like they just show up and they practice and they play the game. These guys, they actually put in a good day’s work…”
(A good week’s work) – “Yeah, no question. A good day’s work each day to get caught up. Their work ethic and I thought Xavier Crawford and Ken Crawley, they did a good job last week. Both of them, they played a handful of snaps for us in the game and they were good on their assignments. Again, we’ll try to give a guy a couple opportunities and if they do well with that, you just try to give them more opportunities.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores said that he was proud of the staff for all the time that they put in to try to find any small edge, any advantage. He said that after the game. I know every staff works hard and every staff puts in the hours, but the first question I have is what have you learned about the best way to find even the smallest advantage when preparing for an opponent?) – “I think the key is that preparation never stops all the way up to the game. You can always – sometimes you look at things and you go, ‘okay, well this is kind of what this team was doing a year go.’ Then you watch it a second time and be like, ‘okay, well that’s kind of confirmed that.’ Then you watch it a third time. You really get into the players and what they’re doing and specific things. You watch it a fourth time and fifth and a sixth time; those things kind of show up or you’ll be like, ‘okay, this coordinator was this team at such-and-such year’ or ‘this coordinator does this vs. our system.’ It’s just how far you go down the rabbit hole which I think all of us as assistant coaches do. We get pretty far down into it and then you have to be careful of you don’t want to overload with information. You’ve got to get pertinent information to the players based on what the game plan is. I think that’s kind of a key. It might look complex to the opponents, but hopefully it’s very simple for what we’re asking the players to do.”
(When it comes to helping an individual player helping him reach his potential, no matter what it may be – Pro Bowl, average NFL players, whatever his maximum is – what do you believe is one or two of the most important keys to approaching that as a coach?) – “The first thing I would say is I think that’s the No. 1 principle of coaching. You’re trying to get the best out of each individual, and I would say each individual is not the same, so you can’t coach them all the same. What may work for one guy may not work for another. At the end of the day, it’s beneficial to the organization (and) to the player if you’re getting the best out of that player, and I think the fundamentals of coaching and teaching all start with ‘we need to make this player the best version of himself as he possibly can be.’ I think there’s a lot of ins and outs that go into that. It’s not a perfect process either. I think some of it is trial and error, and some of it is you build a little bit of adversity in and see how they handle that because at the end of the day, when we have a smart, mentally, physically tough team, we’re going to be competitive on a week-to-week basis.”’
(I like research. If I was going to write a story about you I’d go on that Nexus website where they just have every article that’s ever been written about you and I’d read all 50 and I’d fill a page with notes and you’d be impressed at how much research I had done. Maybe we’ll do that one day. Do you enjoy the research part of all that stuff you talked about? Do you actually enjoy that?) – “I feel very fortunate and very blessed that coaching is actually a career, especially in football, a sport that I love. I enjoy most aspects of our job. I love the game-planning. I love the film study. I love the interaction with the players. From time to time, I enjoy the adversity, the confrontations, because that only builds strength. I’m just trying to think if there’s any busy work – sometimes I think to myself, ‘oh okay, I’ve got to do this paperwork.’ We have a great support staff here, so the HR, they’ve done a lot of that stuff that usually is stuff that I don’t enjoy or that my wife does a much better job at that than I do; but as far as coaching, I’m glad that we live in a great country that I would say our population supports sports and it’s awesome that I can have a job doing sports. It’s great. It’s awesome.”
Wide Receivers Coach Karl Dorrell
(What do you think are the keys to helping any player reach his potential?) – “I think the biggest key is confidence. You have to build confidence in a player and I think the best way to build confidence is really to have a strong intention about developing a player. When a player feels that way about you in terms of your time and investment in him, it seems to reciprocate. Once that development and repetition becomes skillful work and he’s getting better and he’s getting more confident, then he wants more. I think it’s kind of a progression that way. I think our job in the NFL is we select talent every year. We see to kind of create a vision as to what we see this player and what his capabilities are and then we try to develop him as best we can. I’ve kind of been in that ever since I joined this profession. I’m a big developer of players. I’ve been that way my whole career. Obviously a young player like Preston Williams, him developing and playing as well as he is to this point – unfortunately everyone knows he’s done for the year – but he was coming along very nicely each week getting more and more confident and being more and more productive. That’s all you can really ask for in a coach.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores mentioned after the win that he’s proud of his staff for putting in a lot of hours to try to find any small advantage. I found that comment very interesting. Can you take me inside to understand what you’ve learned about how to find even a small advantage vs. an opponent?) – “That’s a great question and I think that’s the skillful work of coaches in this profession. Each and every week you’re trying to find those little nuggets, those little things of insight, anything that can kind of create an edge for you against a particular opponent. Even though that’s done in general every week, I think this staff that I’m on is a really good staff, one of the best I’ve had in my career. We do a really good job of really detailing what each player does and what specifically is his role. We wouldn’t try to put a player in a position that couldn’t accomplish what we think he can do. I think that’s what he’s saying, is that we spend a lot of time with trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together completely and for us to have the best success offensively, defensively and on special teams. That’s the work that we do as a staff. It’s been enjoyable. Sometimes it’s a little more than you would want, but ultimately we’re here for the players to get them to be the best they can be.”
(Talk about WR DeVante Parker and how he has four touchdown receptions in the last five games, just his veteran leadership and how he’s really kind of been just the constant stability for the offense in a sense.) – “I’m very proud of where DeVante is right now because he’s one of those guys that really hasn’t been getting a lot of attention in terms of from a notoriety standpoint, but he has quietly done his job effectively each and every week. He’s taken advantage of the opportunities he gets. He’s getting more – I think his confidence is tremendous right now in terms of what he thinks he is as a player, which is really going to help our offense, and like you said he’s had touchdowns recently the last four or five games. He’s making things happen for us offensively. As his coach, I’m just really excited about what he’s doing. I know that he’ll tell and I’ll tell you right now is that he still has so much more to give. I do think that you’re seeing the best of him that’s coming up. I really do. I think he is trying to be a good leader by his work ethic, doing everything in practice, trying to take care of himself so that he’s ready to perform each and every week. He’s growing and maturing in a lot of different ways and I think I think that’s been noticeable by everybody.”
(Obviously you’ve got some challenges now with WR Preston Williams out. How does the receiving corps compensate for his absence?) – “By stepping right into place. My group – these guys that I’m really proud of – they’re hard-working guys. They’re very confident in their skills. They all understand kind of the dynamics of our position and I’ve told them from the very beginning: football, this sport, there’s going to be injuries along the way. Who’s ready to step up when we need the people to step up and things of that nature. I’m sure – we’re all disappointed in what happened with Preston, but I know that in our group, someone is ready to rise to kind of fill the gap for us. We’ve got a number of candidates that are going to be ready for that. I think Albert (Wilson) is getting back healthy. Jakeem (Grant) is, he’s playing a role for us and he’s doing some really effective things for us now, so I see both of those guys, their time is probably going to increase more. DeVante (Parker) – he’s obviously been a pretty good stable piece to us and he’ll continue to do that. I do have some guys with some veteran experience that can kind of step and make some plays.”
(How much has the injury held WR Albert Wilson back? Is he up to full speed yet?) – “I don’t think so and he probably would tell you the same thing, but he’s getting better and better each week. I think it’s been a progression for him just to continue to get better each week. His movement’s better. He’s getting his explosion back. A lot of it is his confidence, playing at a level that he was prior to the injury. He’s regaining that mental aspect of things and that’s coming along, too, and I think where we’re going right now this week with Preston (Williams) being out, I’m sure in his mind is that this is a chance, ‘I’ve got to step up and get things going.’ I’m sure he’s going to challenge himself to do so.”
(With WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson, how much is it about getting them in space? Obviously everybody would love to be in space but giving them the opportunity to get run after the catch yards?) – “I think it’s because of their ability with the ball in their hands, that’s the natural inclination that we all have as coaches, is that I know these guys in space can create and make somebody miss. I think the other part of it, too, from my perspective is create them to be as good of receivers as they can be along with that other piece, and now you become something special. I think for example, Jakeem the last couple of games has had some big chunk throws, things that have gone his way and he was able to get some chunk plays for us. He does do the screens and all those things, too, but I’m trying to get him to be a complete receiver with all that other stuff that they do. He and Albert are really working hard at those things. I could tell you how we talked about Albert in terms of his progression and what he’s doing, but I think these guys, they see themselves as more than just space players. They want to develop the full route tree.”
(With WR Preston Williams, just as you look back at the rookie year and how pleased, has it exceeded expectations?) – “I’ve been very pleased with Preston. You never know how any rookie season is going be. I think he’s come a long way since his first arrival here, from the spring and to what has happened all the way through this week. I’m very encouraged that he’s going to have an excellent NFL career. It’s unfortunate that it’s come to short end for this particular season, but I know he’ll recover and work and get himself back in the fold of – he’s one of the future pieces for the Miami Dolphins. He should be proud of what he’s accomplished, but also he should be hungry that he knows that there’s a lot more out there.”
(And the next frontier for WR Preston Williams? Is it just more consistency in terms of eliminating drops among other things?) – “Among other things. There’s a lot of things that I think – and he’ll tell you that, too – that there’s a lot of refinement that he’ll gain with knowledge and experience that’s really going to help him from watching and studying himself this year to things that he’ll correct going in through the offseason for next year and into next season. I would expect you’re going to see a cleaner, more consistent player the next time he steps on the field. He’ll study himself. He’ll know the shortcomings and also the things that he did well. I’m very pleased with what he’s been able to accomplish at this point. It’s unfortunate that he’s down, but I am hopeful that he’s going to be able to pick up at least where he was or even beyond that.”
(And any homework assignments you can give WR Preston Williams? Things he can do while recovering from an ACL?) – “Absolutely. You’ve got to keep him busy. He better be right there with us. Exactly. We want to keep him involved with what we’re doing offensively so that he’s, when he does step back out on the field, (he’s up to speed).”
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(In light of recent developments, one would assume RB Kalen Ballage is in for a bigger role moving forward. What have you seen? He was so outstanding in the summer. I think most people were expecting a lot of big things and it has not happened yet. What have you seen in terms of his development?) – “I think Kalen continues to work every day. That’s one thing you love about him. The guy is passionate about the game and how he does for a young guy, and the professionalism that he brings to everything. It’s just a matter of opportunities. Now, this is going to be an opportunity for him. He’s going to take full advantage of it, that’s my confidence and we’ll just wait to see what happens. But he’s prepared for this opportunity and he’s ready for it. I think he’ll capitalize on it.”
(Do you think RB Kalen Ballage’s skillset is best suited for being a guy like a bigger workload than maybe he’s been getting?) – “His skillset is that he can do everything. We’ve had other people in there during the course of this year, so the big thing for us is to utilize his skillset to give us the best chance to win. That might be different things. It might be different people in there. We don’t know yet as far as we’re game planning and looking at this stuff. The biggest thing we’ve got to do though is make sure that he’s ready to go, which he will be, and that we put him in a position to take advantage of the things he can do.”
(RB Patrick Laird is another guy who looked really good in the summer. Because of the logjam he hasn’t had as much of a shot a running back so far. What do you think he can bring to the offense?) – “I think the same thing, it’s going to be maximizing the opportunity. We’re not going to change plays. We’ve got to set up the offense to attack what we think Indianapolis is going to give us, so those players have to be able to take on those roles and do those things. We’ll see as we go through practice, we’ll see as we go through the game planning part of this how everybody fits into this. But Patrick will be ready. He’s got a tremendous work ethic. I know he’s chomping at the bit to get in there and play some on offense, which is a good thing. I think when he gets in there, again, he’ll perform really well.”
(RB Patrick Laird seemed like a guy impressed me in the summer with how quickly he saw the holes and all that. Is that a fair assessment?) – “I think so. I think all the guys are continuing to develop all the time. That’s one thing you love about this group of guys, this group in the running back room works hard. They’re in there, we’re talking about – they listen to the concepts that we’re talking about, what we’re trying to get done, take the coaching points and they’re trying to take all those little things to the field. I think it does pay off, not always in the reps that everybody sees, but on the practice field we see the development. Myles Gaskin has worked really hard and he’s going to be somebody that at some point in time we’re going to count on, too. I have great confidence in everybody in the room.”
(RB Patrick Laird is a guy that came in as a rookie free agent. Was he somebody where you could see very quickly, “There’s something there?”) – “I think he earned that. I think how he came and performed and prepared and when he got his opportunities and things he did with it, I think he made us more believers. The whole thing is opportunity. What do you do with those chances when you get them? I think he maximized those early on in the year. I see no reason why he wouldn’t with any opportunity going forward.”
(Obviously now a chance potentially for RB Patrick Laird and maybe for RB Myles Gaskin. Are you excited at all to see Patrick based on what you’ve seen in practice? In preseason he obviously was productive.) – “I’m excited to see all of them all the time because they work hard and they prepare and they’re preparing themselves for the opportunities. I think Patrick is going to take the most of whatever opportunity is given him as with Myles when he goes in there. But we’ve got to see how the whole thing goes, what’s going to happen. Kalen (Ballage) is ready for what he’s got to do. I have great confidence in all three of those guys going into Indianapolis.”
(With RB Patrick Laird, what’s the skill that left you all intrigued by him that you saw this summer?) – “I don’t think it is one thing and I don’t think it’s necessarily a skill. I think it’s how he’s approached everything since he’s come here. He worked hard to learn, the preparation that he still exhibits, how he’s embraced his special teams role early on. That’s his thing, yet he still prepared for the offense knowing his assignments and things that have to go in there. I think it’s just a matter of opportunity. I don’t think it is one skill necessarily that you’d say. I think it’s the whole package of what he’s brought. This is a guy that he’s giving us confidence in him and we’re looking forward to his opportunity.”
(What does RB Myles Gaskin do well as a runner?) – “I think Myles as a runner is shifty. He’s got a little change of direction, quick-footed at the line, he’s a little hard to hit. He’s got great eyes, I think. I think he can find run lanes and where open spaces are.”
(At the end of last year, there were clear signs that RB Kalen Ballage could be a good NFL player. Did anything that’s happened the first couple weeks, which obviously were a struggle for him, did it shake that belief where you just need to see him?) – “It hasn’t shaken my belief in Kalen. I still have tremendous confidence in him based on a lot of what I see every day from him, which is how he comes in the building, how he prepares, his football intelligence, his knowledge of what we’re trying to do and what those things are. The biggest challenge that we’re doing now is seeing him more and him performing with those opportunities and I have great confidence he’s going to do that.”
(RB Kalen Ballage runs his best how in terms of when he gets the ball and goes hard? Obviously, he’s a physical back. When is he at his best?) – “When the ball is in his hands.”
(And not thinking or…?) – “No, because I think you have to think all the time. It is a reaction positon, but there is a lot of thinking that goes into it as far as how the blocking schemes are set up what the angles of the blocks are, where they think. We talk about being a proactive group in things that we see. There’s a lot of thinking that goes into it. Now once they’ve got the ball in their hands, then they’ve got to just react to things. But he’s a very intelligent guy. He knows exactly what we’re trying to get done. I’m looking forward to him, seeing him in this opportunity. I really am.”
(I know FB Chandler Cox is a lot with Tight Ends Coach George Godsey, but 12 plays last week were his high on offense. The running plays that he was in on, how did he do?) – “I thought he did well. The one thing about Chandler, Chandler will go and attack. That’s part of the job description of that positon which is why there’s not very many guys that like that job description. I think it’s the same thing, guys aren’t always finished products. Depending on from week to week what we’re doing game plan-wise, Chandler has been ready to go every week. He’s prepared, he’s excited, he brings a great energy to it and he’s going to go in and do to the best of his ability everything that we’re asking him to do. That’s all we’re asking of any of these guys. Now we’ve got to get this whole thing to mesh together where everybody is doing that at the same time.”
(What do you like most about RB Patrick Laird as a runner?) – “I think Patrick is really disciplined and decisive on what he sees. He’s really taking that we say, ‘Get to here, get to this point and then make a decision,’ and he knows that that’s his advantage. I think he does that really well.”
(We haven’t really seen much of RB Myles Gaskin this season. We did see him a little bit in preseason. What are some things that he needs to continue to work on to see some playing time?) – “I think Myles has continued to work. Even though you all haven’t see him, we see him every day and I think there has been a growth in him in his first eight weeks in his role that he’s been here in this organization. I’ve seen him get better, I’ve seen his skillset improve, I’ve seen his confidence improve. I just think it’s a matter of time before we’re going to see him in a game. I think he’s going to perform really well. He’s got tremendous work ethic. Every day he hits his bill. He’s working. He wants to be good. He wants to contribute. His time is going to come and when it does, he’ll maximize it.”
(In college, RB Myles Gaskin carried the ball plenty, got a lot of opportunities to catch passes out of the backfield. Are some of those things translating with time and with your coaching in the last couple weeks that you’ve seen?) – “I don’t know that we coach it off of what he did in college. We’re setting up our offense to attack whatever our opponent is doing.”
(Some things that RB Myles Gaskin is doing better, he’s good at doing, are you seeing some of those things?) – “That’s what we’re always going to do. We’re always going to evaluate what we want to do to attack an opponent and then what those qualities, skillsets that those players have and then try to put them in position. And he has – he can do a lot of things. He’s catching the ball better, he obviously has run the ball effectively in his past. It’s been that he’s behind three guys right now on the active roster. That’s been an issue but now maybe not. Again, that all goes into the game planning thing of trying to put guys in positon of what we want to do.”
(I know RB Kenyan Drake isn’t here anymore, but you spent a lot of years with him here with this team. What were some things that maybe didn’t go his way for him here?) – “You’d have to talk to him about that. I don’t know. I’ve liked being around Kenyan. I loved being around him. I liked coaching him. I thought it was a positive relationship coaching him. After he left, I wished him well. I’m still cheering for him. I watch the game the other night and I was excited for his performance. There’s no ill-will on anything on my end.”
(We’ve seen guys like RB Mark Walton come in and RB Kalen Ballage this year and last year was RB Frank Gore and before that RB Damien Williams. Was RB Kenyan Drake maybe – was he not getting the opportunity that maybe he could’ve had if other players weren’t there or many if more carries could’ve translated to more success on the field for him?) – “That’s a big if. Second-guessing things and going back, I don’t think there’s ever a point in time that we don’t think we’re trying to do what’s best for the organization and give us the best chance to win. We don’t think like that. We don’t operate like that. Could you have done things differently? I don’t worry about that stuff. I know that every day that we come in here is to give ourselves the best chance to win and that’s what we believe we’re doing every day in everything that we do.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage it’s been a low per carry average so far. How much of that is on him, how much of that is on blocking on his carries hasn’t been good enough?) – “I think some of them are situational things, because he’s 4-for-4 on third-and-1 which is one of the tops in the league this year. He’s also our goal-line back, so when you put him in at the 1-yard line, you know a 1-yard carry is a productive carry, but it’s not big on your stat average. I think some of those are situational conversations. But you look at him the other day, he had more carries than he’s had in the past few weeks the other day, and he had some good runs, too. I think a lot of that is a function of what we’ve asked him to do in some of the things.”
(We’ve seen RB Kalen Ballage break off that run against the Vikings and even in Tampa he had a huge run during the joint practices. With this opportunity now with RB Mark Walton being out, what do you think Kalen can do here to prove himself?) – “I think it’s the same thing that all of them have to do is just maximize the opportunity that’s presented to them. That’s what it is. He has an opportunity and what he does with it now is up to him.”
(What do you guys like about RB Kalen Ballage’s game?) – “I think that his preparation and how he comes in here, he knows what to do, he’s a confident player. I think he’s a big, physical presence. He’s smart in protection. He can do everything we need him to do. It’s just maximizing those opportunities when we get in the game.”
(You guys found a diamond in the rough in RB Mark Walton. I know he was drafted and everything, but is there another such guy in that running backs room?) – “I hope so. I hope there’s a whole room full of them that are diamonds in the rough. I think our personnel department does a great job of identifying players. Once they get here, my job is to hopefully help them improve and become better so that they do develop and blossom. That’s my goal for every one of my players. I want every one of them to get in there and play, it’s just not possible for all of them to do that. They all work hard, they all come in, they’re great guys, they have a passion for the game. I think if that’s a diamond in the rough, then I think I got a bunch of them.”
(RB Patrick Laird and RB Myles Gaskin have not played from scrimmage so far. I know you guys have people, but are they prepared to do that?) – “Absolutely. Otherwise they can’t be in there. These guys do work hard. They come in, they prepare themselves every week whether they’re playing or not. Patrick and Myles, even though he’s been inactive, they’re in the meetings, they’re attentive in the meetings, they’re a part of the meetings. It’s just a matter of time. The season gets long in the NFL. At some point in time you’re going to need those other guys. They have been preparing themselves every week as though they’re going to play and I have great confidence when that opportunity comes, they’re going to perform well.”
(It seems like one of the things that’s going on with this team recently is the players are understanding what you guys have been teaching them. Has that been going on with you? Are the players executing what you guys have been teaching them? For instance, you guys have had the halftime lead the last three games. You got a win last week. In your room, why has there been improvement? Why was RB Mark Walton improving? Why was the running game improving?) – “Hopefully it’s because we’re all getting on the same page. I think my room, and that’s the only room I can speak for, which is it’s a passionate group. They come to work. They love playing football. Hopefully they’re learning things sitting in there with me that’s putting them in position to get better and they’re gaining more confidence that what I’m asking them to do is the right thing and that they’re having success doing it.”
Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo
(Just wanted to ask you on G Michael Deiter – has there been clear improvement to you the last few weeks? Just your overall assessment on him?) – “The thing at this stage is there are incremental gains. Little things. Little technique (things). Whether you’re working on your inside foot or your hand placement in the pass game or hand placement in the run game – things like that. He’s very conscientious. He’s working on those things to try to improve his overall game. He’s a smart kid. He’s played the position a long time, not necessarily in the NFL, but he’s played the position so the things that he’s working on now are to help him be more efficient play-in and play-out. They don’t really show up overall, but they do show up – I shouldn’t say – they do show up overall. They don’t show up in the individual rep per se. You have to kind of look for it. A guy like myself, I can find what he’s doing and how he’s doing it and those are things he’s working on now. So I would say yes, he’s making improvement, but it’s small stuff. It’s not the major things.”
(How close is G Michael Deiter to being the player that you all think he can be?) – “He’s got a way to go. He’s a rookie. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, so he’s one of those. Rookies – very few come in polished and ready to go and then rise to that level right away. That includes all rookies, including the one I had last year that we’re going to face this week (Quenton Nelson). They’ve got a lot to learn because they’re rookies and I think every guy will tell you, the change from your rookie year to your second year in the league is huge, and he’ll make that jump. He’s getting valuable reps right now. He’s playing against some of the best players in the league this year. Some battles he wins. Some battles he holds on for dear life and those are the experiences he needs to become the player we expect him to be. It’s not going to help him sitting on the bench watching it. He’s got to be in there and taking his lumps and fighting against the best in order to get his skills up to par. I think he’s doing exactly what we want him to do. I would be happy if we had a whole bunch more just like him.”
(So G Michael Deiter been competent, you think at that position?) – “Absolutely. Absolutely. And he’s got the right mentality for the job. He’s very professional. Like I said, he knows what he needs to work on. We talk about it regularly and he’s working on those things and is focused. He’s focused on them.”
(With G/T Jesse Davis – obviously he can play a lot of positions – do you have a sense of where he’s best? Right tackle where he is now? Left tackle, guard?) – “I thought he played pretty well at right tackle. I don’t know. People just assume that, ‘oh yeah, just move him back to guard because that’s where he played well.’ Who’s to say he played real good at guard last year? Just because he played there didn’t mean he was better there than somewhere else. I don’t say he played bad there, but what is the standard of guard play that you think that he’d be a better guard or what makes him better at guard than tackle? I don’t know. I see movement skills, body type. I see athleticism. I see the areas that make me believe he could play inside or outside. He might make a great center one day. I don’t think that’s in his personality; but if need be, he’s athletic enough to do that. I think Jesse is the kind of guy that wherever you need him, he can play. He may be more comfortable at one place or another, but he’s never one to let you know that. He’s just going to go out and do what he’s asked to do. I love that kind of guy. I wish I had a bunch of them, too. Slowly we put together a crew, a room full of guys like Jesse and (Michael) Deiter and those guys. That’s what we need.”
(Your offensive line is coming together very nicely the last couple of weeks. I know C Daniel Kilgore has been out, but what has been the key to solidifying the offensive line performance?) – “I don’t know if it’s coming together nicely or they just happen to do what they’re told for a change. (laughter) To me, they’re starting to get the principles of how we’re asking them to perform. There are some basic things that (Head) Coach (Brian Flores) believes in, that I believe in, that – staying on double teams, being in-sync with one another with our footwork and our hand placement, things like that – and it’s just finally coming to where no matter who we have in there, we’re getting what looks like offensive line play. It takes a while in terms of being able to play consistently together. I don’t know that that’s been the case because we keep rotating guys for various reasons – injury or we’re just trying to find the right combination. We’ll probably have three new guys in there this week starting. That’s just how it goes. You change your lineup and you make it what you think is best for the upcoming opponent and we have a pretty strong defensive front ahead of us, so we’re going to have to find the right combination to block those guys but more so, we have to focus on what we do. I think that’s – to your question – that’s what’s really happening, is they’re focusing more on their own fundamentals than they are on what they’re seeing in front of them and letting the techniques – trusting in their coaching – and letting their techniques bring them to successful blocks which is hard for a guy. Guys take panic. There are some great players out there and they try to get back to things that they’ve done in the past that feel more comfortable but may not be the right thing for them. If they just trust in what we’re doing – which they have been – and listen to what we’re saying, they’re going to be all right. They’re always going to a group – and they know – that’s going to have to fight tooth-and-nail to have some success because we’re playing against some really good opponents in this league. That’s every week. It’s never going to be easy. We’re doing the best we can.”
(When you look at the pass protection – and I know you just said they’re believing – anything that’s going on there that’s made – QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has been on his feet for the most part.) – “That’s not supposed to be a surprise now. (laughter) That’s the intended result. Again, it’s people adhering to the techniques. The way we teach pass blocking, we teach it to be firm and flat in the middle and teach it for the tackles to on their sets, to assist guards on their initial release and things like that that they can help one another. In doing their job, they can help another guy do his job. It takes a while for guys to truly trust that the guy next to them is going to do exactly what he needs to do so that I can take a risk and set a little bit differently than I might feel comfortable doing, but the only way I can do that is to know that that guy is going to be in the right position and not fade away and leave me with too much space to cover. That type of stuff is starting to come around and a lot of it is trial and error. A lot of it is me being stubborn and saying, ‘no, trust me. This is going to work. I’m not interested in what you think. I’m interested in what I know to be true because I’ve seen it in play. I’ve seen it work.’ I’m a believer – I’m one of those coaches, ‘hey listen, if you do it my way and it doesn’t work, then it’s on me; but if you do it your way and it doesn’t work, guess who it’s on?’ (laughter) You have to trust that I’m not going to put you in a position – what do I gain for you doing it wrong? We’re not having success. So everything I teach them is for them to have success in their individual play which turns into group success, which then I get a little satisfaction because I get to see smiles on the sideline instead of seeing frowns. Ultimately this game, you go back to the root reason you coach and even though they’re grown men with children and wives and lives outside of the game; the feeling to see your players smile at the end of a game or come off to the sideline after a play and say, ‘Coach, I saw that blitz and I slid right to it.’ The excitement over being able to pick up a complex twist, things that we practice and we may have failed at it three times in practice until we got it right, but those simple pleasures are truly – they’re as gratifying as anything. Obviously winning is great, but seeing my player success, that’s an awesome feeling for a coach. I’m going to be a bum no matter what, win, lose or draw. The o-line coach is, I’m disposable. That’s how it goes. I get it; but they are not. I take great joy in their successes, even little ones that they know that I see because we talk about those little types of things. Every time one of them goes and takes a little step and takes a step, puts his feet in the place or puts his hands in the right place; he comes off and I say, ‘I saw it. Now you see what I’m saying? It works. When you do it, it works.’ You can just tell that they’ve taken it. It’s like when you’re lifting weights and you want to bench press 400 pounds and then you go in there that one day and you hit it. You never even think about 400 pounds after that. You’re onto the next thing. Now you want to bench 415. It’s that way with offensive line play. You struggle to get to those little points and then you go beyond that and the next one and the next one. That’s what they’re doing and I take pleasure in that.”
(If I told you that you would have started six different offensive line combinations in eight games, what would your response have been?) – “It wouldn’t be the first time. That’s what it is. It’s the hand I’m dealt and there’ll be a seventh. I promise you. Maybe more than that down the road. We have a constant flow of players injured, not injured, moving positions. I think there’s value when players can play multiple spots. We went to the game the other day and the question was, ‘okay, who’s the third center?’ Well I actually had, let’s see, one, two, three, four – I had four guys that could snap, five guys that could snap at the game the other day, that could snap a ball legitimately and have done it in practice. Five different guys. That’s not bad for seven guys active. You always worry about having an extra center. Well, I had four extra centers if need be. Now obviously you don’t want to live life like that, but yeah would I love to have one lineup for 16 games? Sure, but…”
(Have you ever had that in your career?) – “I had it as an assistant line coach at the Giants. We had it.”
(No one got hurt? Same lineup?) – “They plays three years in a row, regular season. Yeah.”
(With this – the rookies – obviously Head Coach Brian Flores talked about G Shaq Calhoun hitting the rookie wall. What is the rookie wall for an offensive lineman?) – “The season is a long season. I think that’s a phrase to say like, ‘listen: most college teams, they’re winding up their season in the next couple weeks. We’re only halfway.’ And rookies, because they haven’t been through a lengthy season – really, it’s 20 games counting the preseason. You could say, ‘well colleges, they could play up to 13, 14 games,’ but there’s a big month between when they play their last one so it’s really not the same. I don’t know. Maybe that’s what he’s experiencing. I look at it whether it’s early in the season rookie stall a little bit or late in the season, there’s a learning process. There’s an adaption. You have to figure out how to be a pro football player. Part of that is the marathon-type season that we have. That’s why you look at even veterans – the guys that can make it seven, eight, nine, 10 years – it’s a miracle that the guys can even walk after that, to make it that long in this league. These guys that play 15 years, I don’t know how they do it; but rookies, it’s probably a little bit of an eye-opening experience. They come in all fresh and young and spry and the veterans laugh because they know what’s going to happen. Maybe that’s what he’s experiencing, but he’s done a good job for us and I think he’s practiced well and it’s just, we have a bunch of guys that we want to see them play and see how they do and we had a couple guys last week and I thought they did a fairly decent job.”
(How is T Julién Davenport’s return going to impact the line and how is he performing?) – “I don’t know. We’ll see how that happens. When he gets to going full speed, he’s got to perform well enough to displace one of the guys that are playing tackle now or maybe he can be a swing guy or maybe he’ll walk right in the door in the first period and let’s say, ‘hey, this guy’s moving great.’ It all depends on how he’s moving and what he’s doing. He’s played a lot, so I think the transition from not playing to playing will be a lot faster than a guy that hasn’t played. He’s experienced a lot. I don’t know how it will change our lineup. Based on the last eight weeks, it’ll probably change our lineup somewhere, somehow at some time. We’re putting a lot of the guys, especially the tackles are taking a lot of reps and it would be good to have an opportunity to play some other guys there as well, but we’ll see. That’s kind of a speculation and I don’t know when he’ll be ready to go. They haven’t told me that I get the thumbs up yet. When they give me that – I think it’s like everything else. These things take time. That’s all. When he’s ready, he’s ready. When he’s not – same with (Daniel) Kilgore – when he’s ready, he’s ready. When he’s not, he’s not. We’ve got to play to Sunday regardless.”
Linebackers Coach Rob Leonard
(After the win, Head Coach Brian Flores talked about how he’s proud of the staff for putting in all the extra time that’s required to help find the small advantages that can help the team win. So I’m going to ask two philosophical questions about how you approach your job and how it fits into what you and your colleagues are doing. What have you learned entering this experience and also being around these guys about what the best way to find even the smallest advantage vs. an opponent is?) – “Really the level of detail. People say that, but what does that look like? I guess – can you specify how you’re…”
(When Head Coach Brian Flores talks about finding an advantage vs. an opponent, I’m assuming that he means you guys are putting in tons of hours, both self-scouting and also trying to identify any possible weakness in individual matchups and scheme matchups, so I guess the question is, what have you learned in your coaching career that has been helpful to succeed in those areas? Like LB Jerome Baker, we think this week, ‘he can blitz through the middle’ – which he did – ‘and create a pressure,’ or this week we think ‘Bake’ can really cover the Jets’ tight end all the way down the field which he did on a third down.’ Take me inside the coaching profession a little bit to understand how a coach best identifies edges.) – “I’m going to be honest with you. The starting point from my experience in my seven years in the league has been the like-minded thinking that we have first, that everybody’s on the same page; so therefore everybody knows the tools and adjustments that you can make versus certain things as opposed to being on a coaching staff (where) one guy has one idea, the other guys aren’t following that idea, another guy has another idea, another guy brings something that he did from somewhere 10 years ago that has no idea about it. That being said, we kind of all – in learning the system together – we talk in those terms. Now everybody is kind of centralized thinking, like, ‘okay, what can we do vs. this guy or this coverage?’ Just that continuity. The continuity so then my idea sparks an idea from ‘Hobbs’ (Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby) or it sparks an idea with ‘Pats’ (Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham) and we’re all kind of on the same page. We’re not bringing stuff out of left field.”
(On being on the same page.) – “It starts with that. We have a good identity of what we want to do, of who we are. Then you can go from there and be detailed, but if you don’t have the – as you said – philosophically understand what we’re trying to accomplish, then it’s hard to be detailed.”
(Who on this staff, if anyone, had you worked with before and where?) – “I worked with (Defensive Coordinator) Patrick (Graham) with the Giants.”
(Now with Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham and Head Coach Brian Flores and you guys all getting to know each other, what is unique, if anything, about the approach to the week and coming up with a plan that ‘Flo’ really sets the table for? In other words what is most important to ‘Flo’ when you all come in on Monday? What is most important? What is most interesting to you or unique?) – “What I think he does such a great job of is the overall vision of things. He’s great at seeing that limit of what’s too much or we can add more stuff here and great at seeing if we’re executing. That’s kind of your red light or your blinker so to speak, is if you have all this stuff in, you go out there and you’re not executing it, then we’ve got to back off. He has a great feel for that, of where we are as a team and what’s too much, what’s too little. I’m learning that and I go back to this whole staff having known each other in the past, a lot of them, and you can’t beat continuity and conversations that have taken place that you’re not having in Year 1 that they brought from the get-go. To be 100 percent honest with you, this business is about people. I wanted to work with Pat from the moment I knew him at the Giants when I knew he was going to get a shot as a coordinator. I met ‘Flo’ through him and I just – who they are as people first and then the way they see the game of football, I just wanted to be a part of that. It always starts there at its core.”
(In the NFL what is the biggest “here is our install, this is what we’re doing” day? Is it Wednesday night? Is that when you get pizza and sit around? Is there pizza?) – “I’d say volume-wise maybe Wednesday, but then it gets detailed when you do third down, red area. Just because it’s not as (heavy) volume-wise, the detail may be more. Really all of them are big, but I guess volume-wise Wednesday (is the biggest).”
(Does the whole defense sit around a big table?) – “Yeah, like a typical defensive staff meeting.”
(Do you get food like sandwiches or pizza?) – “(laughter) Yeah, they feed us. They feed us well. It’s the NFL so last week we’re coming off Monday night and it’s a short week so it’s always changing. Whether the players are here, who’s in the building, you go down and check on your guys. It’s kind of fluid, but you know when you have to have your area prepped and ready to present and that’s kind of steady.”
(What is your approach to making sure or increasing the odds that LB Jerome Baker, LB Raekwon McMillan, LB Sam Eguavoen, all these guys reach their potential?) – “That’s kind of easy for me. You have to make them see it. You have to make them see what you see in them to get the best version of themselves. I’m always trying to paint that picture whether it’s film or just speaking to them as men because that’s where the confidence comes into play. Who you are as a person, who you are as a player – you’re always painting that vision of how I see them so they can fulfill their potential, but they have to believe it. It comes from them.”
(We’re not sure if we’ll see LB Andrew Van Ginkel this year, but what did you see from him in May, June, August where you came away with thinking what about him and his skillset?) – “Honestly it starts with ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) as a person. He’s smart. He’s physical. He’s tough. He’s versatile. He can do a lot of things. He’s still in meetings. He’s doing all the things he needs to do and we’ll see where he’s at physically when he comes back. It really kind of starts there for me, honestly.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jerome Baker. From our vantage point at least it seemed he was fairly quiet in the early weeks and the last few weeks has really shown up. What are you seeing? Are there any differences in what you’re seeing or just more opportunity?) – “(I see) a guy that’s played more football and is building confidence with the snaps he’s played and building confidence amongst his teammates and the trust. I talk to the guys a lot about (how) there’s a difference between knowing what to do and where it becomes second nature and you’re just reaction. There’s a difference. Just because you give me the answer doesn’t mean it’s going to happen that fast on the football field. He’s starting to – after things are starting to repeat – his confidence is coming. He’s just naturally reacting which is the goal. We’re just playing football. In my mind, he should be the fastest one – out of my room, he should be all over the field. He’s slowly getting there and it’s encouraging.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Raekwon McMillan also. He’s a guy again from our vantage point – he’s been pretty steady all year. What has he done well to get himself involved in so many plays?) – “Again, I always start off with intangible stuff first – the leadership, controlling the defense, all the pre-snap stuff first – because the No. 1 thing in this league is not beating yourself and he’s done a good job of that and then physically showing up and tackling. Being physical at the point of attack, in all honesty. That’s kind of what jumps out to me – controlling the defense and being physical.”
(This might be a better question for Head Coach Brian Flores or General Manager Chris Grier, but since they’re not around today, did you all have any sense when you all acquired LB Vince Biegel for former LB Kiko Alonso, what you all were getting? Had you gotten feedback from Chris or had you seen him before in evaluations pre-draft to know, “this is a young man, we think there’s something more that can be tapped into.” Had you known that Labor Day weekend when you made the trade?) – “That definitely would be a better question for them. Again, I remember evaluating him coming out of college from Wisconsin – he played across from T.J. Watt, right – so I kind of had a vague picture in my head of who he was as a player and knew he was a high-motor guy. I was excited in all honesty to get him, but that would be a better question for them.”
(And LB Vince Biegel played well in our eyes, but in your words what’s your evaluation of him?) – “(laughter) He has. In my mind with ‘Biegs’ the more – he just has a long way to go. Mentally, every day to be learning to play outside backer, inside backer, all the different techniques we’re asking him to do. Pre-snap stuff is big for him and he can’t get enough reps. He’s only going to get better in my opinion because any guy that has a motor that burns hot like that is – you’ve just got get it pointed in the right direction.”
(Quick LB Jerome Baker and LB Raekwon McMillan combo question. Does the fact that they played together in college help them at all on a Sunday in the NFL?) – “Of course. In my opinion, just in terms of communication and giving each other a hard time or whatever it may be, you have trust right off the bat. You know where the other person stands. Just watching the way they interact is like watching two brothers at times. That only helps.”
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I know earlier this year you guys had a couple of the onside kicks. How has the rule for those changed how you teach that? I know the offsides kind of spoiled it, but you guys looked like it was successful initially.) – “The rule, obviously especially in a must-onside situation, I think there’s been one successful out of 40 around the league for the year. It’s difficult because you can’t hide people, the numbers. You’re land-locked on where you’re playing. It really comes down to really getting a really good kick and then a little bit of luck. But those are things that I think everybody around the league knows you’ve got to keep working on and see if there’s something you can’t find. But it’s made it difficult with the new rules.”
(Last week, you had that, I don’t know if it was a pooch kick that came about and they had the long return on. What sort of went wrong in that play for them to have that?) – “Like anything, anytime there’s a negative play or a good play conversely, a lot of things happen. That’s one of those plays where when it’s all said and done, we’ve got a couple guys maybe not exactly where they need to be. More importantly when you have an opportunity to make the tackles, you can’t miss tackles. I don’t care what part of the game it is, you can’t miss tackles.”
(I know you lost him due to injury this week, WR Preston Williams, but what did you see from him as a returner and what led you to say, “Hey, we’re going to move him there instead of WR Jakeem Grant?”) – “I think when we put him in there in preseason, he did a really good job making good decisions, catching the football and then as you saw offensively, he was the guy that did good things with the ball in his hands. Anything you do, you’re just trying to find ways to give guys opportunities and win games. He worked himself into that role and did a good job when he was in there.”
(You’ve been in the AFC East a little bit and played these division teams. How does that change your preparation and how you go about calling things because some of these players are probably familiar?) – “I think the biggest thing is understanding the coaches, but then the biggest thing is the personnel. I think when you look around the division besides New England, I think every team in the division has had a heavy dose of player turnover. It all comes down to players. That’s where you have to spend most of your time.”
(Is it fair to say WR Jakeem Grant might get another chance at punt return?) – “We’re looking for – and not anything that Jakeem did, it’s just Preston (Williams) did a good job when Jakeem was out and Preston sort of had to play that role. He did a really nice job and we felt it was best to keep him that role because he was doing a good job.”
(Are you worried in any way about K Jason Sanders. I know he’s missed a couple kicks recently.) – “No, not at all. There’s a lot of things that go into that. We have complete confidence. We need to start getting it done on game day; but we feel very secure, very confident with Jason and where he is.”
(Obviously, the special teams plays, the things that you guys try to do with the fake plays, the onside kicks, what are some things you’ve learned from those plays that you hope to better on?) – “Like anything you do, it’s all about trying to win a game. You never know what opportunities and what situations will come up, but we’re always trying to be prepared for any situation whether it’s for us and/or what our opponents may be doing. I think those are things – you’re trying to find ways to win games.”
(When you convert a play like that, what do you think that can do for your team?) – “I think it does a lot. I think, as we all know, momentum is a big part of this game. It doesn’t last long, then you go back to reality; but the initial momentum shift for teams is big.”
(Including to getting momentum, what does it do for your team in the temporary time that you do have it?) – “It gives you an opportunity. If you’re successful, it gives you an opportunity to have the football. If you’re not successful, the defense needs to step up and treat it like a sudden change turnover situation. No matter what part of the ball you’re involved in, those things affect the whole team.”
(When you cash in off of a good special teams play, what does that do for morale, confidence, game plan, possibly being up?) – “I think it’s like any phase of the game. Whether there’s an interception, a turnover on defense or it’s a big play (on) offense, whether it’s a big return or getting a situation play in the kicking game, anything that gives your team a spark and the possibility to build and catapult you forward, I think they’re always big plays.”
(I know it’s a couple weeks ago, but the fake field goal play in Buffalo, was the goal to score or was the goal to get the first down?) – “A combination of both. When you make those calls situationally, that was just because of when and where we did it, there were two-fold possibilities.”
(So a two-fold possibility. You could get the first down, which you did. You may have wanted to score, but you wanted to do. Why did you guys feel at that point – you guys marched all the way down the field. I felt like everybody in that stadium knew you guys weren’t going to kick a field goal after that, so I’m trying to see what was your thought process?) – “Trying to win the game. That’s every call. If you’re every wondering, we’re trying to win a game.”
(So why not do a 3-yard run from that point instead of the fake field goal?) – “We’re trying to win the game.”
(Now that you guys have come together and this is your first time here with the Dolphins and as a coaching staff here, how have you – as Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea said, he’s not second-guessing anything. He’s letting things roll. He’s learning from it, but he’s not second-guessing things. How are you guys learning from everything that’s happened this season and maybe some plays that haven’t gone your way?) – “That’s the game. Every team around the league is going to have those. I think for us, it’s a matter of as a group, as coaches, as players and then as an organization as a whole, continuing to learn and develop and understand and stay with the process of what we’re trying to get done.”
(How have you done on your special teams work? You have guys come in and out of this roster so much the last eight weeks. Do you feel like you have 11 guys for each phase?) – “We keep trying. (laughter) We’re trying. It’s just part of it. You’re going to have years like that. Fortunately, we have a good group that they’re willing to work and the time and we’ll keep coaching the heck out of them and we’ll keep giving it the best and we’ll see what we get on game day.”
(The special teams effort, I know in college, I used to cover Florida State and they would do a collective effort with all the coaches, all the coaches coached special teams behind the special teams coaches. Is it kind of the same thing here? How do you guys divvy up…) – “Well, it’s not – we have people that are involved in it. It’s anything. The organization, it starts with Brian (Flores) who has a great belief in that part of the game. But that’s just like myself with encouraging and supporting and working with the offensive and defensive coaches. We’re all in this together and it takes all three (phases) to get the results that we’re hoping to get.”
(Who are some players that I can ask in the locker room that have taken advantage of their roles on special teams?) – “The list is long. Get the young players like Patrick Laird, who’s had to step up and do some things. Chris Lammons who’s had to step up and do things. Obviously, you have the veteran guys who have made their niche already, the Walt Aikens’ of the world. It’s a combination of the young and the old. We just have to keep working to try and build it the best we can.”
(S Walt Aikens has really made a big career for himself out of that.) – “Absolutely. And he puts the time in.”
Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby
(I wanted to ask you about – you guys seem to have found a couple of – I say you guys have a lot of reclamation projects and I include DT Robert Nkemdiche and DE Taco Charlton, former first-round picks. I put QB Josh Rosen on there, I put WR Allen Hurns on there, RB Mark Walton on there. Speaking of DE Taco Charlton and DT Robert Nkemdiche – What have you seen from both of them thus far?) – “I think they both are still learning. You miss a lot of time when you come in out of training camp. That time is so valuable and when you miss that time – playing catch-up with the guys that have been here through camp, minicamp and all of that. But I think these guys are trying to put that effort in there.”
(The four sacks that DE Taco Charlton has had, have any of them stood out to you for any reason? Like hips, or hands or technique or just being an animal?) – “A couple of them were on second effort and were out in the open field. Seeing a big guy that can track a quarterback out in open field, especially one stood out for me – I think it was Buffalo – where he had a great inside-out angle to him and being able to tackle a guy of that magnitude in the open field stood out.”
(DT Robert Nkemdiche, it’s two games has it been for him? Has he showed you that he is close or is it still going to take two or three more weeks before he is ready?) – “First, you have to get their feet wet. I don’t care how old you are or how many games you have played. You have to get comfortable playing again, especially when you are playing in a new system, so that is why we are just trying to bring him along in that route.”
(DE Taco Charlton against the run, how has he stood up setting the edge?) –“He has gotten better. He’s coming from a different system. Dallas, they were more pass to run almost and now he is in a situation where he has got to hunker down a little bit. He is getting better at it. He has to make improvements for sure.”
(And DT Christian Wilkins – was that a turning point Sunday at all? Was there clear improvement that you saw or was his game similar to what you saw in previous weeks?) – “I thought he was just week by week. I thought he was getting better, getting used to the speed of this game at this level, the competition at this level. His motor is always running. I haven’t really had to be on him about his effort or anything. But I think he was just – his progress is pretty much on track.”
(Above all, do you want DT Christian Wilkins to be a stout run defender where teams feel like ultimately they can’t run up the middle against him and DT Davon Godchaux?) – “Yes. I think everything starts inside out. You have to be good inside and that is the center of your defense and it works out to the edges; but yes, you definitely don’t want anybody – at every level people can just hand the ball off – it is the easiest thing to do. So we definitely want to be stout in there, help in the run game and shut down the run game for sure.”
(Is DT Christian Wilkins a good run defender yet or is he just average so far?) – “I think he is working in that direction of being good. I think it always takes time. The more opportunities they have, the tougher it becomes. Two on one is sometimes a little bit different than one on ones, but he is working in that direction. It is hard to put good on anything right now being a young guy – on anybody, just good. But we always try for perfection, trying to be dominant, so I think he is coming along.”
(With this defensive line, primarily the pass rushers, where are you in terms of the edge setting stand point?) – “Well, I guess when you say the edge setting, I am thinking more of the run game, just keeping the ball in front and inside of you. In terms of the pass rushers, we have got to continue to get better and keep putting ourselves in position to get opportunities. You have to make them throw the football at this level. It is the easiest thing in the world to turn around and hand it off. I think everybody would know that. We know one thing about the National Football League – those running backs are the best in the country and they probably have a guy on the sideline that is pretty good too. So, we just have to be in a position where we continue to get people in position where they can –“
(So get them in more favorable thirds and whatever?) – “Yeah, just making them throw the football. Sometimes we haven’t done that from a defensive standpoint or a team standpoint. As a defensive line, you want to get in those games where you have an opportunity to rush back-to-back plays, but there is a sacrifice to doing that. It’s playing good on first and second down and getting them in that situation behind on the sticks. That is the tough part. That is the grind with so many explosive offenses that you have in the National Football League.”
(With DE Taco Charlton and DE Charles Harris and LB Trent Harris – where are they in terms of leading their tackles and getting into the backfield?) – “I think you have to focus really on – you could look at a lot of the NFL – how many people really beat them on their first move? I am really focusing on what has my first one done, what does my second effort look like? Am I twisting and turning? Am I doing everything that I can to go get that guy? I see that kind of effort coming out. They are still relatively young guys, but I don’t question their second effort, their want to. You have to win in one-on-ones that is for sure, but we are making improvements there. We have to stay in that situation.”
(I know people often only see the sacks and tackles for loss, but I know DT Christian Wilkins got his first one this past week. How would you evaluate his play now and kind of his growth throughout his rookie season?) – “I think he is getting better and better. As it goes on from game one to game two, he’s getting better. Game three, you keep seeing him getting better and better. His competition was good – really good, good, good. He has faced some of the best right guards in this conference – in this league. Sometimes some of the older guys have some technique and a little bit, but he is standing in there. I am very proud of him from the way he is growing, how he is studying tape. You can see him work at it. He’s coming on. He’s coming on. Eight games in, I think he is on track.”
(You didn’t feel like he got – he had Redskins G Brandon Scherff one week and one of the other guys another week – he didn’t get discouraged that he is going against these All-Pros and maybe the production like he had wasn’t there?) – “No, you have got to know his person. He accepts those challenges. When you get in that mindset that you are one of the best, you look forward to playing against the best. Out of 40 snaps, if you can win 70 percent of them, you have done what you can do for your team. Sometimes it is a sacrifice of what you have to do for your team. That is one thing you have got to get the defensive lineman to do because you don’t want them to start playing the high game, and then they stay with the weak game. You can tell. If they’re going for stats, they start doing things that are – you don’t want them trying to do something that is outside of the scheme. So keeping them in there, being a defensive tackle is ugly in there. It is hard to make a highlight tape of defensive tackle play. Sometimes it isn’t picture perfect. It isn’t pretty. Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way to stay on that line of scrimmage.”
(Former Steelers LB Joey Porter used to say, all he needs is three victories – three wins in a game and he is making it to the Pro Bowl. Three clear-cut wins and he is – a whole game a stalemate, but three clear-cut wins, and I was like, ‘he is right technically.’) – “Well, when you become Joey Porter. Not earlier in his career, but later in his career, maybe because that name is still going. But again, you are talking about an edge guy compared to a defensive tackle. It is air, no space. It is hand-to-hand combat in there on every snap. It is hand-to-hand combat on both ends, but it is a little bit different in there. You have got a little more space, you have the two on ones, the conversion, the pass, the run – it is a little bit different now. So when people kind of put them in the same category I am kind of like, no that is a totally different.”
(What is the main thing that you look for in a defensive tackle?) – “Well, I think how are you at the point of attack. You have to be stout at the point of attack. When they are running the ball at you, that is when you have to shine. Then, that second effort of coming from the backside and playing with that great discipline. Doing that over and over and over and over again is the thing. Being a consistent point of attack. If you are requiring two, then you are really doing your job. If there is just one and they don’t feel like they need to double you or something, then you’re just a guy.”
(Anything going on with DT Gerald Willis? The last month, have you been pleased?) – “He has done some good stuff. He is getting welcomed to the system. I think he responds to coaching. I think he does a lot of natural things. I think he likes rushing that quarterback. You can tell that about him. Guys have done a great job with him at the University of Miami. When he talks football, you like what comes out of his mouth, so I have been pleased with his progress and stuff like that.”
Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Jerry Schuplinski
(How much has your role changed I guess from last year in New England to this year, what initially it was going to be here, after Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jim Caldwell left and what it is now?) – “It’s really been a great experience for me overall. I’ve really enjoyed it. Certainly, titles were going to be similar from when I was at New England. Coming here, having the opportunity to work with Jim in the spring, we had a great system going. He let me take care of the room and run those meetings and he was in there as well giving some valuable input and asset. Having him leave was really disappointing. Certainly, whatever he needed to do to take care of his health is first and foremost. It was just disappointing because I enjoyed working with him so much; but once he left, we just carried on as usual. I was running a lot of those meetings and working with the guys, so it was business as usual minus Jim, which we certainly could always use his input. It’s been very similar, but going into the meeting, I’d say overall the perspective of going into the meeting and having to be ultra prepared because you are running the meeting and you are running it compared to in New England when Josh (McDaniels) ran a lot of those meetings, it was certainly different; but certainly something, a challenge I was really looking forward to and really excited about. Those guys are great in there. They’re really smart, so you’ve got to be prepared every day. It’s been a good challenge for me and also very rewarding at the same time.”
(I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I’m assuming that you took this job because of opportunity. It gives you a chance to further what you want to do.) – “Yeah. I loved my time in New England, loved the people I worked with and have nothing but great feelings for all those people. It was just an opportunity that I thought was really beneficial for my career moving forward. I really respect Brian Flores and the other guys that we have on staff here that I’ve worked with before and the guys that I’ve gotten to know and work with now. It was certainly an opportunity that felt like it was in the best interest of my career moving forward and it has kind of worked out that way in terms of responsibility.”
(I heard a lot of your career in New England before you first got here was that you working with a lot of the young quarterbacks. Now, the lead quarterback in your room is on the opposite end of that spectrum. How has that been different? Obviously, you still have a young quarterback, two young quarterbacks, in the room, but leading him versus leading some of the young guys.) – “Absolutely. Working with those young guys is really rewarding, because you get to see them grow from a very entry-level, foundational level, build their foundation, see them grow, see them prosper. I know one of the guys who we will maybe be playing this week in Jacoby (Brissett). He was one of those guys and then certainly (Brian) Hoyer, too – we had him. I think the greatest experience about the New England room was seeing and being a part of that interaction with a guy like Tom (Brady), who is so advanced, to see how that needs to be done, how prepared you need to be, the questions he’s going to have, the questions you need to be prepared for. And then coming in here with ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) let’s call it, is an experienced guy, not a young guy, (and is) very similar, very smart, knows it inside and out, is going to have really good questions for you, so you’ve got to really plan ahead and think ahead of, ‘Here is what this is. He’s going to want to know this. I better show him this clip or this cutup,’ or something like that. That’s certainly helped me being in that room and then coming here and working with an older guy, an old veteran who knows and is really smart.”
(I know we kind of joke about it out here about the “FitzMagic” being sort of part of Q Ryan Fitzpatrick’s game. How has that for you as a coach, because some of those aspects, it’s just him and it’s not necessarily coached? How do you balance from, “This is what you’re supposed to do in the scheme versus for you.”) – “He’s a special guy. He’s really talented. I’m learning, personally, how to work with all of that. So, I would say the best part about him that I really respect is we have great dialogue back and forth in the meeting room and then you could bring (Offensive Coordinator) Chad O’Shea into the mix too, so we talk a lot. There’s certainly a ‘FitzMagic’ here or there, sometimes when the ball gets snapped; but for the most part most of that stuff is discussed, talked about, little adjustments, little intricacies here, maybe an add-on a certain route here, take something away here. He’s very good in his input and I think we take that into consideration because he’s seen a lot of things and done a lot of things in this league.”
(We hear QB Ryan Fitzpatrick talk sometimes whether he’s talking about his kids or whether he’s talking about life. It seems like he’s coaching already us as media people. Is that something you had in a Tom Brady, having that voice who has been in all these systems so he can give you that additional…?) – “It’s great. I really enjoy his company, first of all. I do have some stuff in common with him – family, kids, all that kind of stuff –so that’s kind of fun on a side, personal level. But then from a football perspective, he’s been in so many different systems, so a lot of times we’ll bounce things off of him or I’ll bounce an idea off of him and say, ‘This is how I’ve done this play before. I really like it. Have you read this the same way? Have you seen this differently,’ or ‘How do you like this versus this coverage?’ We’ve still been figuring each other out a little bit, but it has been going pretty good, pretty smooth.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s numbers have really spiked since he got back into the lineup against Washington. What have you been seeing from him during that stretch?) – “I think the biggest thing that he’s been able to do is he sees the defense really well, he knows what’s going on out there, he’s really well prepared, he knows what to expect, he knows the weaknesses of what they’re trying to do and where we could maybe try to exploit where the matchups are. I think that along with the fact that he’s able to get the ball out really quick. I think it has been a huge help to our offense, been a huge help to our guys up front that he knows there’s that time clock in his head that he can’t really hang onto the ball, he’s got to make a decision with it and go. Like I said, if he knows that matchup pre-snap, as long as he gets the look that he’s looking for, he’s able to do that and get it out quick. He’s been doing a good job for the most part of taking care of the football, which has helped.”
(When you see QB Ryan Fitzpatrick scrambling are you hoping that he’s going to slide and not do the tough guy thing?) – “I always hope they slide. I don’t want him to get hurt not matter who’s playing. Sometimes they’re football players and they make decisions out there. Most importantly, if they take care of the ball and hang onto it at the end of the play, that’s probably the most important thing.”
(You mentioned a little bit earlier you had some similarities on a personal level with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick because of the family ties. How have you seen that, if you’re able to share, the family element of him and what you guys have been able to share?) – “It’s just little stories here and there about kids playing different sports or whatever. His family is away, so every now and then it’ll just be something. It never takes up any meeting time, but it’s just some stuff on the side maybe walking to practice or walking to a meeting or something like that. That’s really all it is, nothing too crazy. I can respect him being a dad. I think it’s really cool for him – his boys and his girls – and they’re really into it. I think it’s really neat as a dad to be able to play and have your family around for the game. It’s really cool.”
(Do you have seven children as well?) – “I don’t. I’ve only got four. We’re going to end it there. (laughter) He’s got boys; I have all girls. He’s got a mix.”
(You’ve got four girls?) – “Yeah, four girls. I’m not catching him. We’re done. (laughter)”
(We were laughing because we saw his kids in the locker room after the game and he was like, they kept on giving him the puppy dog eyes.) – “I heard him say that. We all needed one, that’s for sure. It makes everyone a little happier.”
(I know he’s not the guy right now, but how are you still working with QB Josh Rosen and trying to continue to develop him?) – “We’re working with everybody at every positon, whether it’s ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick), Josh or Jake (Rudock). The one thing I’d say about Josh is he’s been really good. He’s working his butt off. He comes here early, he stays late. He tries to do everything that he can to make sure he’s prepared for that week, whether it’s me meeting a little bit extra with him sometimes to catch him up to speed on a few things, whatever we’ve got to do. But his effort has been tremendous. I couldn’t be more happy with the way he’s approaching this whole thing. We’ll see where it goes or where it takes him, but he’s been awesome and we’re continuing to work with him very much so to continue to build his foundation, his knowledge and everything, too.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores has a comment yesterday I think it was where he sort of basically called QB Ryan Fitzpatrick a coach on the field pretty much. Have you seen examples where that really stands out to you?) – “I think he’s just a really good communicator with everybody from the coaching staff to the players as well. He sees some things out there on the field that he’s going to see and he’ll say, ‘Look, this guy is playing this guy outside. I think we can get a slant in here,’ just to make a hypothetical and he’ll come to the sideline, say something to me and then he’ll talk to the receiver, he’ll communicate well with those guys. I think you need that extension out there. It’s really important. Chad (O’Shea) is in his helmet and talking to him, but his ability to adjust some things on the fly and talk to those guys whether it’s up front with the line, the receivers, the tight ends, the backs, whatever. He’s great with those guys, communicating with them and if he sees something, he doesn’t hesitate to let them know and try to make a small adjustment.”
(Do you still communicate with Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jim Caldwell and how much input does he give you?) – “I keep in touch with Jim, most of it just on a personal level seeing how he’s doing, his health. He’ll ask me a little bit about the quarterbacks. I’ll share a few things with him. I think he still watches the film and stuff, so he’ll share a few things with me. But most of it is just personal. Just really respect the guy. I think highly of him as a person. He’s a great coach and I think he’s an even better person. He’s someone I hope to stay in contact with for a long time.”
(I couldn’t help but notice, I was looking at stats yesterday, and you guys are first I guess five games or so you didn’t do as much offensively, I think it was two touchdowns, but the last 13 quarters, you’ve had 10. What do you attribute that to? I don’t know if you knew that, but just improvement.) – “I think it’s a combination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, starting with ‘Flo.’ He’s very demanding and rightfully so. He’s going to keep the gas down, the foot on the gas and we’re going to go and we’re going to keep trying to get better and improve every day. I think it starts with him, it trickles down to our coaching staff and then I think a lot of the credit goes to the players. Those guys, it’s been tough when you’re not winning. They come out every day and they work hard and they try to take what we teach them to the field and apply it. We ask for their focus, we ask for their attention. I think we’ve improved in the red zone, which has really helped getting the touchdowns. We’ve had some times where we’ve gotten down there and stalled out there. I would say the last couple of weeks since the bye, we’ve had really good success down there. Those guys are finishing plays, making the tough catches, making the good throws and protecting well and all of that stuff. I think that probably has a lot to do with it.”
(This offense, you have QB Ryan Fitzpatrick an experienced veteran, a guy who can grasp things quickly and knows your offense sort of like the back of his beard a little bit. When you have a player that can grasp everything like that, how much easier is it for everybody else to fall in line and learn it behind him?) – “I think there’s a confidence standpoint that goes with that for him and for everybody. The fact that he’s pretty well adept and well-versed, I think he’s confident, we’re confident in him, he’s very comfortable handling everything with the line, with the protections, with the run checks, with everything else. He knows what he sees and he’s able to get the ball out a little quicker. That’s really helpful. That’s something he brings to the table that we’re fortunate to have. With everyone else, we’re still working on getting better and improving.”
(When you have a quarterback that maybe doesn’t know the offense as well and needs some more time to mature and learn, how much does that hinder you on a game-to-game basis?) – “Not at all. That’s been my life most of my NFL career that I’ve had is working with the younger quarterbacks and trying to get them better. I think it’s important for us as coaches to try to find all their individual strengths, what they do the best and try to tailor the game plan according to that.”
