On having LB Alex Anzalone’s leadership to guide LB Derrick Barnes: “It’s huge. You really do – if you want to accelerate growth, you really do need good veterans that are pros. They know how to handle their business, and they’re willing to bring those young guys along the right way and Alex does do that. It really is, it’s huge. I think sometimes it’s just as beneficial, if not even more than some of the coaching that goes with it. Once it gets supplemented I know this, they really do – it helps astronomically. He’s doing good and that’s one of the benefits of having (Michael) Brockers in there too by the way in that room, especially with that – Levi (Onwuzurike) and (Alim) McNeill and (Jashon) Cornell and Nick (Williams) for that matter. It’s been really beneficial.” On CB Jerry Jacobs and CB A.J. Parker returning to practice: “Jerry has been moving around today. We’ll get him back out there going. He just had an illness, so he’s good. And A.J., we’ll get him moving around today, too. He didn’t go yesterday, but today he’ll get some work. So, we’ll see where that goes. We’re looking better, that’s for sure.” On RB Jamaal Williams’ injury status: “He’s another one. To be honest with you, I don’t really know until really today. I think today will be the big test as to where we feel like he is and how he feels. He’s still got some strength in it, which is good. That’s a positive. It kind of popped up last week, but he finished the game for us and did really well. But, we just won’t know. Jamaal, if he can go, he’s going to go. It’s just a matter of, ‘Can he take a load?’ That’s it.” On Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp testing positive for COVID-19: “I told him he should’ve gotten vaccinated and he wouldn’t have this problem (laughs). Oh wait, he was. That’s tough. It’s a bit of a downer, but I can tell you this, Fipp’s been all-in. We’ve had him on the big screen in there, his big mug and he’s been going through the tape and (Assistant Special Teams) Jett Modkins our assistant and (Special Assistant Don) Muhlbach’s been doing a hell of a job filling in and helping. We’ve gotten help from everybody. Everybody is jumping in to help and we’ve got a good core group, too. Those are pretty good guys with (Jalen Reeves-Maybin) JRM and (Josh) Woods and (Jason) Cabinda and C.J. (Moore), Godwin (Igwebuike). It’s a good core unit, and so they take it serious and they kind of regulate themselves a little bit, too. Like, you can tell there was a little bit more ownership in it like, ‘Alright, look man, Fipp’s not here. Let’s get this right.’ It’s been good. It still stinks, especially this weekend I know for Fipp. I’m sure he would want this, but yet he’s still here in spirit and he’s up there. Like I say, he’s still coaching even from home.” On Special Assistant Don Muhlbach helping to coach the special teams unit with Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp out due to COVID-19: “We just threw him right into the wolves like, ‘OK Muhl, here’s your debut.’” On if Special Assistant Don Muhlbach has caught the coaching bug after taking over some of Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp’s duties in his absence: “I think he’s willing to catch whatever bugs comes his way, let’s put it that way. Look, he loves kind of the scouting side of it and he loves being a part of the organization, sponsorship, anything that he can be. Just help us is really what he wants to do, but I know he’s – I don’t want to say he’s had toes in the water coaching. I think it certainly intrigues him, but I can tell you this, when you watch him interact with the players and coaches, he’s all passion, all energy. He’d be an outstanding coach. So, I don’t know, but I know this, whether he knows it or not, he just got sucked in. He’s been doing good.” On which players on Injured/Reserve may be ready to return to the active roster: “I would say (Da’Shawn) Hand is the closest one to being ready to go and he’s another, ‘We’ll see what he looks like today.’ He had a pretty good day yesterday. We’ll see how he feels after today’s practice, how he wakes up in the morning or after today and go from there.” On if he regrets bringing T Taylor Decker back to practice and starting his three-week clock to make a decision on if he returns to the active roster or not: “It’s tough to say because all parties felt like it was the right time to do it. It felt like, hey, he wanted to give it a go and certainly we would love to have him back whenever he’s capable. It’s hard to look back and regret that move at the time knowing what we know and where we were all at, all parties, but here it is.” On if there was a plan to waive players on the active roster to make room for players coming back from Injured/Reserve: “I think some of it is, just as far as the leaving a spot would be – it gives you flexibility not knowing what could pop up between now and game time if you leave one. The other is – some of it may be it’s just a better time if you’re going to let someone go and maybe have a better chance of possibly getting him back at some capacity.” On if there are players on the practice squad he has thought about calling up for Sunday’s game: “There are a number of guys that have – yeah, there is really. Now, will the opportunity come up? Are we going to be able to make that opportunity? I don’t know, but look, Craig Reynolds has been doing a hell of a job. (Tavante Beckett) Scrap has been doing a good job. Beckett, sorry. He’s been doing a pretty good job. (Jessie) Lemonier has been doing a good job. We’ve got (Rashod) Berry back a couple of weeks ago. He’s doing a pretty good job and some of these are just – a lot of it is development with some of these guys, but yet we wouldn’t have him here if we didn’t like him. So, there is something about him and I think they’re all doing a pretty good job, but those names that I just threw out are pretty intriguing.” On how LB Tavante Beckett got his nickname Scrap: “I don’t know. You need to talk to (Inside Linebackers Mark) DeLeone and (Jalen Reeves-Maybin) JRM and (Alex) Anzalone. Don’t ask me. I go with what they’re named by. Everybody says that’s their name. You call them by their real name and they don’t even look at you.” On what winning a game before the bye week would mean to the team: “It would be big. It would be. Knowing that you get a win and now we’re going to be able to heal up and rest and kind of reset our clock if you will, get everything back mentally, physically, emotionally, I think it would be big. I think you kind of – you’re turning over a new leaf if you will. It’s validating what you’re doing and where you’re going. So, certainly it would be big, but this isn’t some easy opponent. This is a good football team. They still have good football players over there. They can rush the passer. This quarterback is dangerous if you let him out of the pocket. Shoot, they run a rolodex on coverage and defense. You don’t know what you’re going to get. This is not going to be easy, but to answer it, yeah, it would be huge.” On if there is a plan to activate T Taylor Decker and have him sit while he heals: “All options are on the table. Everything is out there right now. Certainly, if it’s now it would be after the bye, which is probably what it’s looking like. But if it’s not then and we have the spot available – we’re not pressed to make a decision one way or another – yeah, we’d be open to that.” On trick-or-treating in Texas when he was younger: “This is pretty good. Our dad, my dad, our dad, whatever, me and my brother – he hated Halloween by the way. You’ve got to wait for it to get dark, so he’s been working all day long and that’s one. Two is, ‘Alright, I’ve got to go drive them around. I’ll let you guys get out, whatever.’ So, we would go drive to the nearest town, which had about 400 people in it by the way. So, we’d drive out there and it wasn’t far away. It was five miles or whatever, five, eight miles, so it was not like it was a huge trip. We’d load up and he’d just pull and, ‘Hurry up.’ He’d jump out. We’d be in our suits, have our bags, we had just the old paper bags, run up there and do it. We’d just go from house to house and we’d come running back to the house and he’s like, ‘No. Just keep going.’ We’re running from house to house, come back and the whole time he’s yelling, ‘Hurry up.’ But, you know what? He did it every year. He did it every year.” On how much he ran from house to house while trick-or-treating: “For that time, even as small as it was, you’re running an acre or whatever to the next place. It’s better than wasting gas.” |
