Wednesday, September 18, 2024
QB Tyler Huntley
(Welcome back to South Florida. What’s it like playing in this building?) – “Man, it’s just like a dream come true. As a little kid, you’re looking up seeing the NFL and your home team being right there, you just want to be a part of it. I get the chance to be a part of it.”
(What was the moment you got the call that you’d be heading here to South Florida?) – “I had just got done working out at the Ravens facility and my agent called me and was like, ‘Man, it’s time to head home.’ I just had to get ready, take a shower, start packing my things that I could and come on down.”
(You’re smiling ear to ear. Is that the reaction you had? It’s got to be a little bit of a whirlwind.) – “Definitely. I’m telling you, I’m still in the stars a little bit being able to be home.”
(Were the Dolphins your team growing up?) – “I wouldn’t say team, but grew up watching the Dolphins because we’re right here at home.”
(Your high school Hallandale is not far from here. How does it feel to just really be in that proximity?) – “That means a lot. You got all of my people that I grew up with still down here. They’re able to get a chance to come out to the games if they can, it will be a nice thing.”
(How many people are going?) – “Oh, I don’t even know yet. (laughter)”
(What was your first reaction when you got your hands on the Head Coach Mike McDaniel playbook?) – “I was like he’s utilizing his weapons. I think it’s great what he’s doing over here. I can’t wait to get into it into it and be able to do some things with the things he’s got going on.”
(Why do you think that this is a good fit for you, this system?) – “You get to throw to some weapons and then we’re going to score a lot of points. I’m ready to contribute.”
(What is it like knowing if you were to get into a game, you have WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle in this offense?) – “It’s kind of like playing Madden. (laughter) You got a lot of weapons out there. You just got to go out there and play ball.”
(What was today like?) – “It was nice just getting out there. I’m watching the plays from a distance in the back trying to get the footwork down. It’s just amazing to see that speed out there. They’re running every play, it’s amazing to see.”
(How tough do you think it will be to get on timing? There is so much timing in this offense.) – “I got a good feel of it today. I was doing footwork from the time we stepped on the field. Coach (Mike McDaniel) is doing a great job of having me back there, going through the footwork. I’m trying to get it down, but I’m a quick learner and I should be ready.”
(How big of a hug you got from Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver?) – “Ah, it was a big hug. That’s my boy. It’s good to see familiar faces. It’s all love.”
(Do you think he advocated for you to be here?) – “I think he said some good things about me. I would hope my play did a good thing too.”
(What are you most looking forward to being back home?) – “Good weather. Good weather, good food. You know what’s around, those are the main things.”
(What’s your mindset coming into here and your understanding of what your role would be? Are you here to be someone who gives QB Skylar Thompson the assistance that he needs? What is your role going to be?) – “Definitely to be here for Skylar (Thompson) and when Tua (Tagovailoa) gets back, be there for Tua. Definitely get a grasp of this offense so whenever my time is called, I’ll be able to contribute.”
(What has surprised you most about learning this offense in the very early stages of it?) – “Just the different terminologies I got to get used to. All of the pre snap stuff, I just got to get in tune with it. It’s nothing – football is football. I should be able to do it.”
(What do you think an athletic quarterback can do in this system?) – “There is so much speed on the outside, a couple of QB runs up the middle and stuff, get the defense to play honest. There’s no way they could stick all of that speed at once.”
(Do you prefer Tyler or ‘Snoop?’) – “My momma would prefer Tyler. But everybody tends to call me ‘Snoop,’ so you can call me ‘Snoop.’”
(Have you ever met Snoop Dogg?) – ‘Yeah. Definitely, I met him at the Pro Bowl, and then I met him last year when we went out to L.A. for the game.”
(Do you think you look like him now? Or not so much?) – “(laughter) No, but back in the day I had long hair, so I kind of had a similar look to him.”
(Do you feel like this is kind of a career reset for you? A chance to kind of get things going in the right direction?) – “I think so. And just being in a great place like this, everything is new to me. I used to see the facility in Davie, so the facility being right next to the Hard Rock, practicing and seeing Hard Rock right there, it’s an amazing sight. So it’s a breath of fresh air and getting ready to work.”
(It’s obviously tough to learn a whole playbook in a week, but do you think you’ll have a package early on where you can just focus on one thing to learn?) – “No, I don’t think I would want to look at it like that, because in the heat of the battle, something pops up out of nowhere and you want to be on top of it rather than sitting out there just thinking ‘what is this?’ So I’m going to try to learn the whole thing and be ready to go.”
(What was your meeting with Snoop Dogg like? Did he know that your nickname was ‘Snoop?’) – “(laughter) Yeah, he called me ‘Lil’ Snoop.’ So when I threw a couple of touchdowns in the Pro Bowl he was like, ‘There you go Lil’ Snoop,’ so he was on me about that. But yeah, it was pretty cool.”
(Had you hoped Miami would call you when you saw the unfortunate thing that happened with QB Tua Tagovailoa? Had you started thinking about Miami? Had you hoped they would call?) – “I was thinking about it a lot. I was really thinking about it coming out of the draft and I was hoping Miami would have come and got me. But you know, God’s plan and we’re here now.”
(What are one or two of the things that you’ve learned from playing behind Lamar Jackson?) – “Oh man, he’s a gamer. He’s just a playmaker and great quarterback and a leader. He just shows you the great aspects of winning games and handling everything that’s going on – on the field and off the field. He’s great to learn from.”
(I know you’ve only been here a minute, but what are your first impressions of QB Skylar Thompson and how he’s handling this situation being thrown into this?) – “I think he’s taking it all in, he’s doing a good job. I remember seeing him when I had gone in playing against Cincinnati, he was playing against the Bills that same day when he came in the playoffs. So I think he’s going to do a great job, and he’s just got to stick to it.”
(You had to go all the way to Utah for college football coming out of Hallandale as a recruit, did you want to go to one of the Florida schools?) – “I did leading up to it was time to sign, I was ready to get out of Florida and explore. I hadn’t been too far from Florida prior so going to Utah, it was a great thing for me.”
(Did that leave a chip on your shoulder – not attending one of the state schools?) – “Yeah, definitely. Definitely. (laughter)”
(You mentioned you wanted to know the entire playbook, but you have a unique set of skills we haven’t really seen right here – your speed, your ability to be elusive. Are you going to lobby maybe for a ‘Snoop’ package that we see in games, kind of change in pace with QB Skylar Thompson?) – “(laughter) If Coach needs me to come in and step in a little bit, then I’m willing to do it. But I’m really just ready for – to step in and to win the game.”
(How much time did you spend with QB Tua Tagovailoa? How helpful has he been?) – “Man, I’ve been here 24 hours; I’ve probably spent a good little hour or two with Tua (Tagovailoa) in the meeting rooms a little bit and then walkthrough. I’ve just been talking to him and trying to get his grasp of the offense. He’s great. He’s great.”
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
LB Jaelan Phillips
(We all saw kind of saw the Instagram post that you made, if you feel comfortable sharing a little bit about what was behind it.) – “I think I just wanted to convey a message to people, it’s really anybody in general but especially young athletes and stuff. I feel like some people are naturally, supremely confident, but I feel like a lot of people kind of struggle with their confidence and I just wanted to convey the message that even if you do struggle with your confidence, you can still move past it, you can still be successful. It’s really about how you handle those times like that and how you move forward from it. So I just think it’s important – I feel like a lot of people might assume because we’re big, brawny athletes that either we don’t go through the same emotions or whatever, but I think it’s impactful for a lot of people to be able to see that from us. A lot of people obviously idolize us, and for us to be candid about our emotions, I think that’s super important. Especially for men in general, I feel like it’s kind of stigmatized to be vulnerable and some people might see it as soft to speak about your emotions, but I think it’s important, like I said, to convey that message and show people that they can be themselves. They don’t have to be anybody less than what they are, and they can go through tough times, they can go through times of self-doubt and low confidence, but you can always push your way out of it.”
(What was it that triggered that?) – “I mean that’s kind of what I went through after the game on Thursday. I feel like I have a lot of high expectations for myself, and I didn’t live up to my standard so kind of instantly, all of the negative voices in my head start berating me. Like I said yesterday, it takes a concerted effort to switch that mind frame and start to love yourself and tell yourself positive things instead of just pounding yourself down. So yeah, like I said, it was that process – happened on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – it was tough because it was a long weekend, so we couldn’t just put it to bed and move on. By Monday, that’s kind of when I started to turn the page and get back into a routine, and at the end of the day, tough times don’t last but tough people do.”
(How do you start that process of being positive to yourself?) – “I think it’s important to sit with those feelings. I don’t think it’s beneficial to try to ignore those feelings. I think it’s a good practice to try to tell yourself the opposite when you have those negative thoughts, ‘I’m not good enough. People don’t love me,’ whatever the case may be. Tell yourself, ‘I am good enough. I am blah blah blah.’ But I think it’s just like sitting in that and understanding that it’s OK to have down days or if it’s two days or three days, but it’s not OK to stay down and start spiraling and to not take that step forward. So what I said yesterday, it’s like for me, my routine and discipline is what carries me because you might think about something a lot for a couple days, but then once you get back into your routine, back in here, meetings, with the boys, working out, stuff like that, you just kind of forget about it, honestly. It still sits with you, but you’re able to look at it from a different perspective.”
(What’s been the feedback that you’ve gotten on that post?) – “A lot of love. I mean it’s not like I was asking or trying to, ‘Pity me, woah me,’ this and that. Like I said, it was more about conveying that message, and really it was on my heart and I just wanted to share that because I think it’s a valuable lesson and something I’ve learned through the adversity that I’ve had. It’s just like I said, how you respond to things is what determines how your life is going to be. It’s not the moment itself, it’s how you respond to the moment. So I think a lot of people have just been like thankful that I’ve had that vulnerability and spoken out. People told me that they really related to it, that they’ve told their young kids that, so I think it was overall definitely positive.”
(What happened in the game that you didn’t feel great about?) – “I feel like I just wasn’t impactful. I guess I’m just a little hard on myself. I still got to remind myself that I’m coming off of a major injury, we had a short turnaround. It’s really only the fourth time I’ve put on pads this year – only the second full, full-speed game, like going to war that I’ve played. So I think I just got to give myself grace, but I just kind of felt that I wasn’t impactful out there and made a couple of boneheaded plays because I was trying to do too much, trying to make big plays, obviously how the game was going. So I think it’s just a good reminder to myself to trust myself and to stay within the scheme and stay within my game and not try to reach for anything.”
(With the situation that the team faces right now, having to play a month without QB Tua Tagovailoa, what can the defense do to carry their share of the load?) – “I just think we got to do our job, that’s all we can do. We don’t have to play bigger than what we are; we just got to do our job – stop the run and then rush the passer. It’s simple as that, get the ball back for our offense. So I think we’ve been doing a good job. I think we have a lot to improve on and we’re going to improve on it, but I don’t think we have to do more than what’s required of us for us to win. I got a lot of faith in Skylar (Thompson), I’ve got a lot of faith in our offense in general. So I think if we can just go out there and play the brand of defense that we all know that we can play, then we’ll be good.”
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
QB Skylar Thompson
(I know last time when you went about starting, you told us about your dad and telling him the moment. Did you have a moment with your dad when you learned that you would be the starter and if so, can you share what that was like?) – “Yeah, I got to share it with my dad again. It was really, really special and got to share it with my fiancée as well. It was really cool to share that with her as well. My family is excited for me, it’s a great opportunity. You guys know about my journey; it’s really cool for me to share those things with my family members as I’ve continued through the journey so I’m very, very thankful for that and for them.”
(What’s it like for you being in the huddle in this role? I imagine you have to be a calming voice for guys because obviously things just changed dramatically going from QB Tua Tagovailoa. You have your starter in, now you have your backup in. But for you, what kind of quarterback or leader are you in the huddle?) – “I think first and foremost is just being myself, and for me, I’m a team-first guy. I love to go play with my teammates and that’s a goal of mine every time I step into the huddle, is for them to feel the confidence in my voice and the way that I speak the play out, the way we break the huddle, our urgency. Those little things and the details go a long way, and for me, that’s where my focus is at, is just the little details of things and having good urgency, speaking up and if I don’t like something or if I want something run a different way or whatever, having the confidence to voice my opinion. I’m very thankful for the guys listening and taking my opinion into account. That’s just the way that I approach it. That’s the way I’ve always approached it. I’ve always just learned you go to battle with your teammates and you invest in them and give everything into them, great things are going to happen. That’s my approach to it.”
(Last year, you didn’t play any games but you started a few as a rookie. What was that experience for you last year and what did you learn that’s going to help prepare you for Sunday and the games after that?) – “I think the first year, it’s an adjustment. Coming into this system which I haven’t been in another system, but I would put it up there as one of the more complex systems and for me to get experience with that my first year and getting live reps. We always talk about that; you can’t simulate live reps. I was very fortunate to get that opportunity to get those reps my rookie year and I think that was really good for me to go see that, to feel the speed, see the picture, feel the pass rush, feel all those things and feel the crowd noise. Like every single little detail, I remember and I think that’s one thing that you talk about – you asked about last year when I didn’t get a snap. I thought that was very helpful for me being able to take a step back from the offense. I’m obviously still in it, but just seeing it from a different perspective and being able to digest it and understand the why behind the what and understand being able to pick up on why Mike (McDaniel) is calling a certain thing in certain situations or all that stuff. Just being able to learn in game management situations, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that I thought really played into account last year for me that really helped me grow and develop. And on top of that, even though I wasn’t getting reps, I devoted a lot of time to walkthroughs and all those things just to keep myself up to date and to keep learning and progressing, because you just never know. And I wanted another opportunity whenever the time came and so you’ve just always got to stay ready. So that’s been my approach, and I thought that really helped me last year being able to see it from a different perspective.”
(This team entered the season obviously with Super Bowl hopes, aspirations and all that. Four games now, you’re going to have to keep them on track for the goal. Just talk about the responsibility that comes with that and why you feel like you’re prepared in this moment to do that?) – “I’m just focused on today. I’m focused on today, and when tomorrow comes, I’ll focus on tomorrow. It’s one game at a time, one day at a time, and that’s my approach to everything. And that’s been my approach since I’ve gotten here and that’s led me to success, just being able to focus on the now. What’s in front of me right now, not getting too far ahead of myself because that’s when things start going all over the place. So it’s just focusing on right now where my feet are, being where my feet are, and I think that that approach for me helps me stay even-keeled in the implementation of the game plan this week and being able to take it one step at a time, rather than trying to look at it all at once, because sometimes that can be overwhelming. So you just try to take it one day at a time and focus on today. That’s me and that’s what I’m echoing around to the guys, too.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us when you won the No. 2 job over Mike White, that part of the reason why was how your teammates responded when you were in the game. Not just in actual games, but when you were on the field at practice. What does it mean to you to hear that, that the way your teammates responding to you is part of the reason why this coaching staff has so much faith and trust in you?) – “Honestly, it’s probably one of the best compliments I could get, because like I was touching on earlier, one of my favorite parts about this game is going to play with the guys next to me. It’s been that way since I was a little kid, and I just find joy in going to battle with guys that I know have put so much into it to do their job. They’re relying on me to do my job; I’m relying on them to do theirs and that’s for all 11 spots. I feel like that trust and continuity you build is special and for me, I want to make guys feel confident when I’m in there and we’re going to make plays, whatever that looks like. Just being able to instill that confidence in those guys and get them to believe. I think that stems from – anybody can go say, like, ‘Hey, believe in me.’ But you’ve got to do it with your actions and the way that you go about things, and I feel like that’s just the approach that I’ve taken is just controlling what I control, be a hard worker, be a great teammate and put the team first in every way, shape or form, and good things happen. So that’s really cool to hear.”
(Last time you started a non-preseason game so the playoff game at Buffalo, there were some issues getting the plays in from Head Coach Mike McDaniel to you. What gives you confidence that your communication on game day will be better to get plays and streamline things?) – “Absolutely, it’s going to be a hostile environment and it’s going to be a special opportunity for us to go attack that because it is going to be a challenge. That’s the reality of it. But to me, it’s just getting work. Getting to work at it this week, getting the timing down with everything and getting guys in sync on the same page. I think that’s the most important part, is everybody being in sync together with that stuff so we can operate well and also getting out of the huddle, getting up to the line of scrimmage – all those things – all the operational aspects really help that. Truly, I feel like that was an area that I have focused on and tried to improve on and grow in, and I feel like I have made improvement in that. So it’s just going to keep continuing to build throughout the week and build that continuity and trust in the plays so we can operate quickly on game day.”
(You mentioned it being a hostile environment. What are your expectations for what you’ll experience in Seattle with the 12th man at Lumen Field over there?) – “Just hearing guys talk and guys that have been there, it’s a special place to play and the 12th man is real. I’m super excited for that. For me, that’s what you want. That’s why football is such a great game, and being able to go on the road, having a road opportunity with the guys and get to go in there and go to battle with them in that environment is fun. We’re really excited for that opportunity.”
(When you were thrown into action the first time, was there a sense of “don’t screw this up” as opposed to how you’re going into it now?) – “I wouldn’t say necessarily in that wording that’s how I felt, but it was just – it’s a lot different than how I feel now. And I felt like my rookie year, I was really – I was doing things exactly by the book and viewing everything as how I would see it in the playbook – the drop, footwork and everything – and it was all new to me. I studied it so much that I felt like I knew it so well that sometimes it kind of slowed me down a little bit, even. And that’s just another progression, part of being in the third year and having this opportunity again, I feel like I have a very good understanding of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and being able to anticipate those things and all those things come to account and help me with my progressions and all that stuff. It’s less thinking, so I’m excited for this go around.”
(Has QB Tua Tagovailoa given you any advice or words of encouragement as you kind of head into this next journey?) – “Yeah, he definitely has. He’s given me some really great advice and has been a great sounding board for me. And if I have questions or something pops up that, ‘Hey, like Tua, how’d you handle this or how’d you do this?’ He’s so quick to give me answers and to do anything to help me, and I’m very, very thankful for Tua because obviously, with the situation, I think it just speaks volumes about the person that we already know who he is. But it’s special and I’m thankful to have him around with me because it gives me confidence to have him around.”
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So the decision to put QB Tua Tagovailoa on IR and be sidelined for four games, what led to that – to have him sit at least four games?) – “I think lost in a lot of this is this is something that Chris (Grier) and I have to collaborate on in terms of you have injuries – man, it’s clear if it’s, ‘All right, you’re out for the year.’ Anything else, you have to weigh the information that you have on that day at that moment and weigh all of the different variables. So in the process, like every other player on this team, we do what we feel is best with the information and collaboration with medical experts. We do the very best for the organization that we can – there are different ways that comes at you, but it’s not something that you ever are void of in terms of you have to make the decision with what you have. I think realistically that’s something that as Chris and I have worked together we’ve had these situations each and every year, the entire year of ‘All right, well what do we know and what’s the best thing for all people involved?’ And you make that decision – that’s what you do in these roles.”
(You said on Monday there wasn’t information yet to decide whether to put QB Tua Tagovailoa on IR. I’m curious, what more information did you receive from Monday to Tuesday that ultimately led to the decision?) – “It’s more of an accumulation of different information and again, it’s not like we’re operating today and trying to make decisions on things that aren’t today. So I think that each and every day is a big deal of information; you take all of that and we are very transparent in our conversations and I don’t think anybody questions our intentionality. So you just make the decision that’s best and move forward. I think we came to the conclusion in collaboration, and I think that’s what you have to do.”
(Did QB Tua Tagovailoa try to fight you on it at all or is it something that he was totally on board with?) – “Well, I’d hope that if he was fighting me, I’d be bruised up because I’m just not that physically imposing. (laughter) I think the biggest thing with the way that Chris (Grier) and I really go about all of our relationships within the organization is you work, day-in, day-out, to establish a trust and understand intent, and then you just communicate and have conversations that are without a shadow of a doubt the intentionality and the deliberate nature of it. As a respectful, professional counterpart, I think I’ve worked very hard to earn his respect and regard and he does everything that you’d want in a teammate. And as teammates, I don’t think he’s for a second, second guessing or understating the weight of whatever. As a competitor, obviously he loves and wants to play, but understanding how this is a process of health and you take that process with – I’ve learned a lot about various things in the science field and medical field as a head coach and being in this game for a while and you do everything to make sure that people, your responsibility to them is that you provide an environment that is absolutely best catered to maximizing them as human beings and football players and all of that. And I think the great thing about IR is there’s – for a month’s time, there’s no timelines. I always say that but I’m not sure that people quite understand; if you set a timeline based upon the information you have today, how much of whatever goes on is fulfilling the prophecy of that timeline? And is that the right thing? Especially with competitors and stuff, sometimes you can do more harm than good. I think regardless, not worrying about anything as it relates to timelines is very empowering for him as a human being to recover from injury, and that’s steadfast the only motivating factor that you have when you’re dealing with players and their careers and their injuries.”
(What is that process though? Once you have that conversation with him, you guys walk away, what is the process of him going through dealing with this? Is this a situation where he’s sitting at home? Or is it he’s constantly going through medical procedures? Or what is that? Are you guys still in contact?) – “That’s a fair question. A lot of times I don’t totally recognize, ‘Yeah, what does it look like?’ Involved teammate that is working with our medical staff in various ways that sometimes involves certain things. Sometimes involves sweating, sometimes there’s all sorts of stuff that is part of a daily process to take each day to – we don’t want to create an environment where there’s like, ‘Hey, we’re assuming someone’s feeling this way,’ or you have to communicate, even ad nauseam. Sometimes he doesn’t want to talk to my face, but he has to. (laughter) One thing that’s interesting that you’re not – obviously, I didn’t forecast this a week ago, such is the nature of NFL football, but I see a true, true leader and teammate that is worried about the right stuff. What he’s worried about is doing everything that he can control for each day and then also very much invested with his teammates. There’s a lot of conversation that has to do with just you, and that’s odd by nature of odd, right? So on top of that, for a leader, a captain, the quarterback of this franchise, he is approaching it the way that true leaders and captains would in terms of, ‘Hey, this is not about me. We have a game. I’m getting healthy. We have a game on Sunday.’ Where fortunately for us as a football team, we didn’t try to mask the fact that we had high expectations that were completely fallen short of in this past game, and not all the time in life do you have to have something occur and you have any control of it moving forward. No, we literally have an opportunity today on Wednesday. If you’re trying to be a team that can handle adversity, you waste no time in doing it and you have a good practice. And that is vitally important to the team and that’s what really the conversations that I’ve had with Tua today, most recently, that’s what it’s been about. It’s about how he’s using today to talk to this teammate and this teammates for this reason or that reason, and that’s what it is. That’s what today is, and we’ll worry about tomorrow tomorrow. I’m going to be exhaustively annoying with that approach because it makes sense to me just scientifically. It’s not wasting time creating any sort of feelings – whether it’s positive or negative anxiety, whatever – on things that are quite literally fake right now because it’s not out. Like no, that’s not how you go through the process and make sure you do right by yourself as a player, to the organization and etcetera, etcetera. I’m very motivated to do that.”
(Two-part question, the first part is easy. I’m guessing QB Tua Tagovailoa won’t travel to Seattle, but maybe you could set me straight on that?) – “We travel on Friday, and I’ll probably find out on Friday, because I literally will not, that’s how committed to the – there’s so much of today. And I would prefer on Friday, if he did or didn’t travel, that to be based upon the feelings and motivations that he had on Friday. I wouldn’t broach that, not because I don’t care but because we have a grinder of a day. Wednesdays, there’s a lot of stuff going on. Guys are enthused to work and that’s where it’s very interesting, but that’s all he wants to talk about right now, is literally different sorts of formations, progressions and things that need to get done today based upon the opponent we’re playing.”
(The second part was just how would you describe the team’s collective mindset now that they know that QB Skylar Thompson is their guy for the next month?) – “I think it’s very, very telling – I would encourage anyone to press their ear to the locker room door if they could, because you find out a lot about your team, about how people feel about other people in moments like this. And when I tell you that the confidence that the team has for Skylar (Thompson) is real and it’s earned, and it’s based upon thousands of hours that as a backup quarterback most people don’t see. I would say very motivated to do their jobs and the greatest compliment you could see – I don’t think it’s on anybody’s minds. I think they’re focused on doing right by their job, their opportunity, their teammates, and quite frankly, we are only what we commit to each other. If guys were deviating that way – this team with the captains and leadership council, I think if there was anybody wavering from that, they would be communicated with conviction and assertiveness.”
(Just going back to what you said about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s desires at this stage, with where he is with the protocol, is he able to watch practice and help QB Skylar Thompson through maybe some of those progressions and formations and film as well?) – “So the old stages – I’m not doing stages for timelines, not doing it. He’s very active within the building, and I can firmly – I can guarantee that he is fully committed to the day and his team and is involving himself in every way that the rules allow and that the process allows, because the process is what you focus on; it’s not getting through it. And he’s very much focused on that because we’re all not trying to rush the process. As a matter of fact, we’re trying to do the process right and that’s what our focus is. I have zero concerns about him. He is in it with his teammates, and sometimes that means being on the field, sometimes that means meetings, sometimes that means in the training room, sometimes that means in the locker room. But he is doing it as a leader and a captain, (like) you’d want them to do.”
(What do you think QB Skylar Thompson picked up in the 2023 season when he didn’t get any game action? What kind of things do you think he gained and learned by staying on that sideline?) – “That’s a good question because it’s a challenging situation where you – all right, so you’re a rookie quarterback; you’re learning this new language in a game where the hashes are different, the speed is different, all of this, and then you’re thrust into an opportunity, I can’t remember the weeks anymore but throughout the whole season, and then last training camp in a quarterback competition that was neck and neck. You learn so much about people. It’s not about when their next opportunity is; it’s when it is, where are they at. So much of this game, particularly at quarterback, if you aren’t a lottery pick, you have to seize opportunities and that means the only way you can really execute at the quarterback position in this league is if you are always checking your boxes, forcing yourself to get better in unique and challenging ways so everyone can feel a tangible difference your next opportunity. Especially when it’s a year long, you’re like, ‘OK, well let’s see how this all plays out. Here is this op,’ It was much the motivation of a lot of the randomness of training camp and preseason games to create scenarios where I want to see where guys are at. He got better, and you have every excuse as a backup quarterback to get worse. Because you don’t or you can challenge yourself – he has ran our plays in a walkthrough setting probably more than anybody on our team because he’s going through the process diligently with any player that maybe is a practice squad guy, new guy, somebody that’s coming back from injury. He’s done that for a calendar year incessantly, and the results are there is a broader chest in the huddle. There’s more conviction when you do this, that or the other. It’s been cool to watch him join multiple players on the team that you’re watching – 2024, it might be the same name on the jersey but you’re seeing a different man. I think collectively, guys that have been here since 2022 have all recognized in each other when it’s happened and then challenged themselves as a group, or just individually, to keep up with the defensive tackle that just had a breakthrough in his game, or the countless number of stories of perseverance we have on this team and all of that – he fits right in. It’s probably because, in all honestly, he has had the opportunity for adversity since a young age. He handles it well and he deserves the opportunity that he’s going to get.”
(Has RB Raheem Mostert gotten to the point to where he can return to practice this week? Also if can we get update on T Terron Armstead?) – “Raheem (Mostert) is progressing each day. That’s a guy I have to read between the lines and not with the words that he tells me, in the most complimentary way. True warrior, getting better every day. So we’ll see an uptick, then you see how he responds so that you can further uptick and not have any steps back. Terron (Armstead), he’s good. He’s our captain for a reason. He just galvanizes people with his presence. He finally strung together – you wouldn’t know it, I’m sure PFF’s grades wouldn’t know it, but what he’s been doing in adverse situations is remarkable in terms of how he’s executing at as high of an anxiety position that exist that a lot of people totally wig out – you have these pass rushers every week that are really good. He’s been playing at a high level for anybody’s standards, and he can taste the next level as he’s strung together more practices. I’ll say that it’s not overly concerned for anything at all long term; this is a day-to-day type of situation I would feel good about. And I feel great where he’s at most importantly, because sometimes you can – it’s a tough game in terms of he’s battled through a lot of stuff, but he’s not blinking. We’ll keep progressing each day with him and see where that lends itself at the end of the week. We got very smiling pearly whites, determined Terron Armstead today. Very focused, and that’s my favorite Armstead.”
