August 19, 2021 Opening Statement: “I’ll start with this, (D’Andre) Swift’s going to do a little more today. So, he – we’re going to work him into practice. He’ll be with (Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs) Duce (Staley), get some individual. We’ll get him some reps in practice, just see where he’s at to that point, but I don’t see him playing this weekend. (T.J.) Hockenson, he’ll get a little bit, 19 (Breshad Perriman), he could get a little bit of individual. He may be with (Coordinator of Rehabilitation/Assistant Athletic Trainer) Tom (Colt) a little bit more off to the side. Our thought for him is we’ll ramp him up next week, is kind of the thought because really today’s – this is the last kind of big day we’ll have until we play Pittsburgh. So, but on those two – (Michael) Brockers is getting better. There again, we don’t see him playing, but hopefully next week we’ll be able to start to work him back in more into practice. But he is improving. It’s just kind of slow going, but it’s getting there. So those are kind of the big ones there.” On the plan for the starters playing this weekend: “Yeah, you know – it’s – I still see, I still see most of our starters playing. I’ll tell you this, this had been in my head for about a week. I’m starting to think about maybe sitting a few of these guys, a select few veterans is kind of what I’m thinking right now. I’m not there yet, I want to see how we get through this practice, too. That will play a lot into it.” On if QB Jared Goff will play this weekend: “Goff could be one of those that could be down. Possibly down, yes.” On the importance of managing potential injuries to quarterbacks: “Well just to—there again, we only have three. We had three, we brought in the other here the other day. It’s funny because— (Quarterbacks Coach Mark) Brunell brought this up, ‘I guess if he throws six days in a row, I guess it’s too much. But back in the day, you’d go 14 in a row and do two-a-days. You’re throwing twice a day.’ And so, everything’s relative. You just—there again man, we don’t want to wear his shoulder out and then you get something where he ends up pulling something in there because it puts more of a strain on him because now our third quarterback’s down, which has been (David) Blough. But I think it’s important, too, for Blough to be able to – I want him to have the best opportunity as well to have success. So, that’s why, ‘Let’s bring in a fourth, we’ll see where that guy’s at.’ You get a look at him. But also, it gives us a couple of days to get Blough back a little bit for this game, I do see Blough playing and I think (Tim) Boyle’s going to be able to go as well.” On if sitting starters this week will affect who plays against Indianapolis: “I think whatever we do this week, will be pretty much the same as next week. So, whatever this ends up being, I think is going to be, probably will play out very similar next week. Look, a lot of it has to do with where we’re at with the roster as well. There’s already a couple of areas where I thought it might be good to sit, but we can’t do it with where we’re at just with the roster. We have some injuries in certain areas, and if you sit one or two guys, now that whole group gets depleted if you lose one more in the game, and then all of a sudden you lose half your roster. There’s – man, it’s a tug of war between you do want to get better, you want to give them different looks, you want to get competitive looks, you want to have a chance to win the game. But also, then you don’t want to wipe half your roster out either. So, that’s the game that we play.” On how he thinks the first-team offense looks: “Yeah, I mean, well, I feel like we need to improve. And I feel like we are improving. One of the things that we did the other night when you guys were here, you saw, it was much more situational football – spot the ball and play it out, red zone, backed up, spot it, play it out. Four minutes, spot it, play it out, just trying to put those guys in unique situations. Look, ‘We’re not out there, you are.’ And then let them kind of figure it out a little bit. Now, we’re behind what goes in and out, but just to put it on them a little bit. I thought they responded well. I thought that was really good for us. That’s kind of my plan. That was one. We’re going to do another one next week and then we’ll do another one after the Indy game, will be the last one. So, I kind of think of those a little more as – ‘OK, those are where you really get the ones ready to go and you’re putting a pretty good load on them rep-wise. But they’re also getting situational football and it’s competitive.’ For them, when you start putting a score up there or a situation, it gets a little more intense. They can’t help themselves and that’s good. But that’s where I kind of see the work going, and then we can control it as well.” On if DE Bruce Hector’s performance throughout training camp and the preseason makes the defensive end group harder to cut down: “I know. He does make it difficult in a good way. I can’t believe you did this to me because here’s the problem – every time I speak good about somebody, or if I speak good about somebody in front of the room with them, they play awful the next day. He’s been a guy, to your point, what you’re seeing is 100 percent accurate. Every day he comes out and does his job and just shows up. He’s just kind of quietly is always there. He’s consistent, he’s smart, he’s a workhorse, and it’s hard not to notice. It sure is. He would be one of those guys that is going to make it real hard on us if he continues to trend the way he’s trending. But that’s an excellent job by (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and those guys of, — you find that guy and you bring him in. You’re happy you have him in camp. That’s exactly what you want in camp, a guy who you think can compete to make your roster and help you.” On if the extra week between the last preseason game and the start of the regular season helps determine who will play in the final preseason game: “It does make you think about it, but there again, you’re always going to have this – you’re fighting this fine balance between getting the work that you need, different looks, the intensity versus understanding that you have a whole extra game plus playoffs. That in itself – I’ve said this before that the hard thing is knowing that, really, nothing has changed for the starters except for the fact they have a whole other game in the season. You’ve just got to constantly fight the balance between that. ‘Do you play them? Do you not play them? Who plays? How much do you play?’ There again, part of me – we have a lot of young guys and they need to play and they will, but some of these guys I am tempted to sit and get the work out here at the practice field with them. There again, I feel like we can – nothings for certain when you are out there, but you have much more control over how you handle the practice and the whistle and all of those things that’s different in those games sometimes.” On the balance between making roster decisions for Week 1 versus the long-term: “Yes it does, it does. Those are hard ones, but those are ones that we’ve talked about. I think the endgame has always been about what’s best for us long-term, ultimately. However, not at the expense of us being non-competitive or not having a chance to compete, not at that expense. Look, we have a lot of young guys on this roster that we like and a lot of them need development, but we like them. So, we’ll just see where this thing plays out, but it is. There again, we have conversations every night, every day, about this stuff, who we think can make it, who can’t, why, all of those things.” On how he has learned to handle the emotional side of being a head coach: “Look, I was fortunate to get – I did get 12 weeks out in Miami. So, I had already had a bit of a taste of it and really during the hardest time of the year, which was the season. So, I kind of knew a little bit of what I was walking into. Now, what I didn’t ever have to worry about necessarily was what’s coming down the wire and what had to transpire a couple of days ago, when you have to start letting players go that have just given their heart and soul to everything. That’s hard. For me, I can take things personal at times if I’m being honest with you. It does, it digs on me a little bit and I hate it because I was in that locker room and I played and I know when you see these guys who literally do give everything they have and you have to let them go or you’ve got to make these decisions, it’s tough. It’s real tough because I appreciate them, but it is what it is.” On if it was tough to cut LS Don Muhlbach on his birthday and if the cut was about business: “No doubt. There is no way to sugarcoat that. I’m an (expletive). That’s about the best way to put it and I hate it. No, it is, but there was no way around it, really. Yeah, you could say there is, but ultimately, that falls on me. It’s my fault and Don’s a hell of a dude. It sucks, but it is what it is. There were a number of moves like with Nick (Williams) that was coming down the wire to get him back from COVID/Reserve and the linebacker (Rashod Berry) and then the quarterback (Jordan Ta’amu) because of where we were at there. Once again, it’s putting a strain and you’re looking for that spot. Unfortunately, it has to be on his birthday, and it stinks.” On if he pays attention to the free agents on the waiver wire when making roster decisions: “Absolutely, every day. (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and them have been on it every day for every team. I have told the team this and these guys know we’re always looking for the – just because you may be the number one guy here or the number two guy here doesn’t mean that it’s going to stay that way or that even you make it here. We’re looking for the best that are out there to help upgrade us roster-wise. That’s what Brad does. That’s what his crew does and we’re always looking there.” On the collaborative process between him and Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes: “I would say a lot of it is Brad – what he’ll usually do is, they have done the legwork on it and he brings it to me and just asks me kind of what I think or any thought and we’ll take it to the position coach. There’s a ton of this to where – and I’ve told Brad this because I just know from working with him from the time that I have through the spring that we’re on the same page. So, I told him before, I’m like, ‘Look, man, I trust you. If any of these things start coming down the wire, we’ve got to do something pretty fast and if you feel like it’s the right thing, then I trust you with that decision.’ He’s in constant contact with me with how it goes down.” |
