| December 30, 2020 Opening Statement: “Just to give you some updates on what’s going on here today; we will be practicing indoors. As far as participating in practice right now, or not, we will not have Matthew Stafford practicing today, Joe Dahl, Jamie Collins Sr. and Kenny Golladay. As far as the update for Frank Ragnow, he was close at the end of the week. He got a little bit of limited practice, so we’ll continue in that vein with him this week as well, just limited and see how far we can progress him as we get toward the end of the week.” On QB Matthew Stafford’s health and what the dynamic is like if the team wants to shut him down to protect him: “That’s taken into consideration. The first thing is the safety of the player. We will never put him out there in a situation where he’s going to sustain permanent damage or has a really, fairly good chance of re-injury. With Matthew, I think the best thing for him is that he’s got the best feel and read for his body. So, we’ll continue to progress like we normally do with him. Some of the other injuries are resolving, so we’ll see how this injury on his ankle resolves as well by the end of the week.” On if OL Frank Ragnow is able to speak yet: “Yes, he is speaking. Really, what I’m asking him to do is I don’t want him to overextend it or anything during the week. So, the communication will be minimal. I mean he’s talking and all that, but I don’t want him barking out any calls or signals that way just so that we can continue to let it heal as much as it can all the way to Sunday. I think that’s kind of the prudent thing to do. He’s on board with that.” On who will take first-team reps at quarterback and which quarterback will start if QB Matthew Stafford cannot: “So right now, Chase (Daniel) will take the first-team reps with the guys. We’ll mix David (Blough) in a little bit. He’ll obviously take most of the scout team (reps), but Chase will be the guy that goes first.” On if QB Chase Daniel will start if QB Matthew Stafford cannot: “Yes.” On if Defensive Line Coach Bo Davis is still in the COVID-19 protocol: “He is still in the protocol, yes.” On why WR Kenny Golladay hasn’t been placed on Reserve/Injured: “It’s a good question. I’m not sure that I have enough of the information, but there’s more that goes into being able to put him on IR and particularly putting him on IR at the end of the season. So, there’s conversation about that. I don’t think in the last three weeks that you can just put him on IR. There are ramifications for that. So, right now we’re continuing to keep him on the roster.” On if it’s hard to assess if WR Kenny Golladay took steps forward as a player this year: “I would think that’s a fair statement. It’s a very hard season to assess with what he was able to do. He wasn’t able to be out there enough for us this year to really, I think, make those steps that I was hoping that he’d be able to make. So right now, obviously he’s not there. Does the have the ability to be there? I think he does, and obviously that’s what we’re looking for from him. But the most important thing for him is to get healthy, get his body right and then be able to handle the rigors of a 16 game plus season.” On how to handle the running back corps this week: “I think we’ll continue to handle them the way that we have. D’Andre is going to be the starting running back, and then we’ll go from there with how we want to divvy up the rest of the carries. Kerryon (Johnson) will obviously end up being the third-down back, that type of situation, and we’ll continue to move that way.” On the report about S Jayron Kearse being released due to violating team rules: “Like I’ve told you guys, and I think I’ve told obviously the whole team, everything that we do matters. So everything that goes into any situation matters. So all of that out there, I mean, I won’t get into the specifics of what happened with ‘JK.’ At the end of the day, we decided to make a change so that we could end up seeing some of the younger players that are on the roster. Obviously give him other opportunities with other teams elsewhere – that’s kind of where we left it.” On if S Jayron Kearse violated team rules: “I don’t know if I even want to comment on that. But I will just say that everything matters.” On why RB Kerryon Johnson hasn’t had a bigger role this season: “That’s a good question. I think I would have to wrap my brain around a lot of that, but I think, right now, we just have a very distinct role for him. He really does excel at that role. I know I said earlier in the year, one of the games he was the MVP of the game, sometimes some of the stuff he does goes unnoticed. I think he’s done a fair job for us, or a nice job for us, when he has been given opportunities to run the ball as well. But right now, that’s just kind of the role that we’ve given him.” On what his message has been to the players heading into the last game of the season: “It’s the same thing I’ve kind of talked about almost every day that I’ve been up here. I basically talked to the players today about the love of this game, and basically, respect for this game and what that means and what that looks like. I think for all of us we have a great love for this game. To echo (Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer) ‘Zim’, yes, this is the last game that you’ll play, and it will stick with you for a long time. It’s one that you’ll remember the most, but there’s still other things that we’ll remember. As far as going out – it’s what we signed up for, it’s what we love to do. If you respect this game, then you’ll give it everything you have. We don’t know when our last opportunity is going to be to play this great game. I remember the day when it was my last opportunity – if you give me an opportunity to go play right now, I’d go play. That’s how much I love this game. I think those guys, sometimes we lose track of that. I think it’s important for them to remember, come Monday morning, for some guys it may be the last time that they ever put that uniform on again, for some guys – like I said earlier – we’re all in an opportunity for us to be evaluated, whether it’s here, whether it’s other places, everybody across the League is looking at it. We want to make sure that we do a great job of putting our best foot forward, showing our competitive side, how we like to compete, how we like to work, and I think that respect comes out by our actions.” |
