WR Tyreek Hill
(Knowing what is at stake on Sunday, when you are on the sidelines, do you take a look at the other games that could affect your playoff position?) – “No. I never look back on anything. I feel like there are certain situations that could’ve helped us be in better positions. But I feel like everything happens for a reason and the type of adversity we’ve been in is going to help shape who we are as a team moving forward. All we can do is look forward and that’s the New York Jets. That’s what this team is looking forward to.”
(With the injuries at QB, guys in and out. From a game-planning perspective, with the stakes going into this one, has this been one of the tougher weeks to get ready for?) – “No. I don’t think so. I wish you guys could’ve stayed and been a part of that practice. I feel like that practice right there was a lot of fun. We got a lot of good work in. Skylar (Thompson) had guys flying around catching passes, being deliberate in and out of the huddle. Practice was great today. I’m really looking forward to Sunday and watching him play in this game.”
(This is a serious game coming up and I wanted to get a little humorous. The ping-pong table, how much superstition is involved?) – “I know y’all are going to blame that on me. I know everybody is going to put it on me. (laughter) I’m just going to go ahead and take it. Somebody wanted it. It was a gift for somebody. We did a basketball shot and whoever made the shot, they get to take the ping pong table home.”
(I have an idea for Sunday. My idea is that when the opponent lines up to punt, you just run out there and say I got it.) – “If you want to find out who the punt returner is, just say ‘are you the punt returner?’ instead of trying to say that. (laughter) Whatever this team needs me to do, I’m going to do it. I do want to go back and return, so if (Special Teams Coordinator Danny) Crossman wants me to go back there and return, I’m all for it. I know the returns, I know the scheme, I obviously catch punts during practice. I’m ready.”
(How weird is it knowing that you not only have to take care of your own business, but you need help from the Bills? Is that something that you’re aware of through the week and maybe on Sunday?) – “We only can focus on what we got to do, and what we’ve got to do is take care of business on Sunday. Obviously we need a lot of scenarios to play out for us, but we need to take care of our business first and make sure that we go out on the winning side of things.”
(Something else that players have mentioned, and even Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree mentioned earlier today is that throughout the losing streak, it’s not like you guys had a big players-only meeting, or a big team meeting where you had a Come to Jesus moment. What does that say about the confidence of the leaders that you guys can turn this thing around?) – “There’s still confidence in this team, confidence in this whole building. I feel like you never lose that as a competitor. The guys from top to bottom, who brought in all of the guys here including myself, we’ll never stop believing. When you play this game, you don’t come into this game just for what it gives. You come into it for teammates that you come across, the winning atmosphere and just competing. We all love that. Nobody has lost spirit yet.”
(Historically, the Jets fans travel well. It will be packed Sunday. How do you silence that crowd?) – “I don’t know man, but I’m a huge fan of Adam Sandler and he loves the Jets. I just hope he pulls up. (laughter) And how do we silence that? We just use our speed and do what we’ve been doing all season. Taking what teams give us, don’t shoot ourselves in the foot and just play ball.”Sam Madison – January 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Cornerbacks/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison
(You have so much history here. The finale against the Jets – as a player can you take us back? How much do you want to get rid of all these Jets fans coming in here and taking away home field advantage?) – “Always. You always want to do that and then you know they want to come in and play spoiler. Same if it was us going anywhere else. That’s just the way that this division is built. None of us like each other very much and we know that, they know it, the fans know it. So it’ll be a lot going on in the stands, but it’s been cut back a little bit. I’m just ready and excited for these guys to go out here and put it on the line, just being able to talk them through the things that that myself, Pat (Surtain), this organization has been through with these franchises over the course that we’ve been here. Just want to get this game done and over with. But the guys are locked in and ready to go. We’re going to keep them focused and we know what the end result is and they know as well. So it’s going to be a dogfight and I think our guys are ready and prepared for it.”
(As a player, do you remember seeing a lot of Jets fans taking over the stadium?) – “Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of New Yorkers that moved down here over the course of time so they’re always going to come and support their teams. Even if it’s Giants fans, I mean, just a lot of New Yorkers. So they’re going to come, they’re going to be loud. They’re always loud and then we’ll start smacking them around and then they’ll be quiet. (laughter)”
(One of the unfortunate things of this season obviously has been that CB Byron Jones has not been at a spot where he feels he can help you. Have you had any heart-to-heart talks with them in the last three weeks where you’ve asked him, “is there anything you think you’re physically well enough to give us?”) – “I haven’t. I leave Mike (McDaniel) and the training staff with that. But just when I first got here, just being able to watch tape on Byron (Jones), wishing that I had an opportunity to work with him. But I haven’t throughout the course of the offseason, or not even in the season. So I think he could have helped us, but injuries, they come up. Things happen. Some people fight through them. Some people don’t. But right now, we can’t really worry about it. We only can worry about the guys that we have here and that’s what I’ve been doing – trying to focus on the guys that we have. We have a young group of guys here that still needs a lot of attention, so I haven’t focused much attention on anybody else unless they would have been here.”
(I have a micro and a macro question for you. The first one is CB Noah Igbinoghene gave up a touchdown pass earlier in the Patriots game. What happened there? It looked like they had kind of a rub route and some motion. What would you liked to have seen better with that?) – “It was a scheme issue. Something that we talked about. One of our things was in certain situations, we would have different levels and sometimes we would be close to one another. But the communication part, it has to be quicker. It has to be faster when you’re going. And that’s why a lot of people do the motions and the jet motions and all those different things, so you don’t have opportunity to sit and discuss things. So they move things really, really fast. So that’s why pre-snap communication is very important. Really just trying to always communicate with these guys, being able to look across the formation, but because of the situation that he was in, being that he was on the left, and they had the safety out to the right, being able to look over there and being able to communicate ahead of time, it just was a situation where they didn’t communicate very well. But things that we worked on in practice, things that we took them through, just being able to speed the process up and understanding what you’re getting; that is the most important part of these guys understanding how fast it’s going to go and how quickly you have to communicate.”
(Big picture with CB Noah Igbinoghene. He was kind of put into action after some injuries early in the season, then he had some string of inactives and now he’s kind of back playing a bigger role. Where have you seen him grow the most this year?) – “Well, just staying focused. You throw a guy into the fire, things good and bad happen to him and then all of a sudden, you don’t really know what his mindset is going to be coming back. I just like the way he’s been consistent over the course of the season because any of us – we go out there and like, ‘Hey, go and play, you make a couple of good plays.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, you can’t play anymore.’ Now psychologically, it throws you off. But just being ready – one of the things that I always talk about with the young guys is just like that, you can be in the game and ready to go. It happened to me as a rookie. Then you just got to know exactly what the game plan is and to go out there and execute it. So with Noah, I’m just really happy that he’s had the focus to stay focused because he could have went left, he could have went right. But he’s just stayed right down the middle and staying consistent. He had some really good reps over the course of the time that he’s been in there. A couple of bad reps, but he’s building, he’s growing. So we’re very confident and happy that he’s able to stay with the game plan and stay consistent when we do have an opportunity to put them in the game.”
(This is often in a different direction, but as I’m sure you know, last night, Zach Thomas was named finalist for the Hall of Fame.) – “Oh, yeah, about time. Come on, man, we got to get him in there. Are you going to sit there, are you going to help him, are you going to write some scripts to get him in there? (laughter) Everybody else helped help all the other guys get in there. We need you guys help him get in there. So I mean, Zach (Thomas), you look at the things he’s done and you look at the guys that have gone before him; I mean, he should have been in there a couple of years ago, but we’re going to keep fighting for him. He knows that one day he’s going to be in there and these are the things that we can’t control. It’s something we talk about all the time, that you can’t really control certain stuff. This is one of them. But he’s eventually going to get in there. Just hoped that he would have got in there sooner. But one day he’s going to be in there and hopefully it’s this year.”
(When you look back at playing in the Dolphins-Jets rivalry, what is your favorite moment and maybe your least favorite? A lot of which I think I know…) – “Winning on a Monday and losing on Tuesday. (laughter) Yeah, yeah. But you know, just always being able to beat these guys, just shutting these fans up. That’s one of the things. And then just trying to get our young guys to understand that. It’s always going to be a tough, hard-fought game. But being able to be down here at home, the (season) finale, to be able to knock them off and send them off with a sour taste in the mouth is going to be feeling really, really good.”
(How proud are you of CB Kader Kohou? I mean, to get an undrafted kid who wasn’t at the highest level of college football and to know now you have a reliable NFL cornerback is how satisfying?) – “Very satisfying. When you talk about the little things, and you know you’re going to get some good, you’re going to get some bad. You expect that from a rookie, but just the way that he triggers, the way that his mindset is. He’s had a cast on his hand that really has hindered him from making a lot of other plays, but he doesn’t complain about it. He just goes to work. But just being consistent and having an opportunity as a rookie to not get overwhelmed by like you said, coming from a small school and being a starter and being relied on, on a consistent basis, moving from the star position out to the corner position. It’s a lot on his plate, but just being able to absorb all that stuff and then go out there and compete and play the way he’s playing and have the confidence that he has and making the plays, you tip your hat off to those guys. That’s why these scouts – you look at Chris (Grier) and his staff going out and doing their due diligence and finding players like this; this is what you do it for. Because you never know those diamonds in the rough that you’re going to be able to find and he’s definitely one. I’m just really happy to have him around and he’s very good in the room. The veteran guys, they’re always going to give the young guys a lot of hassle, but they’ve done very well with him and he’s absorbed it very well. Everybody goes through it. I went through it as a rookie. He’s going to go through it as a rookie. (Jevon) Holland went through it. Everybody’s going to do it and he’s doing very well for us.”
(I was going to ask you real quick your reaction last Thursday, when a fluke-ish thing happened with CB Xavien Howard banging knees in practice. Was your reaction “I can’t believe this is happening to my unit again, what the heck?” What was your emotional reaction?) – “Hey, listen, hey, next guy’s in there. That’s our motto around here. That’s the motto in the NFL. You look at this point of the season, everybody’s dealing with something. Everybody’s dealing with injuries. This is the part of the season where guys really have to – the things that we talked about at the beginning, taking care of your body, understanding what’s going to happen, you know you’re going to break down here or there – but having the strong mind and continue to do all your workouts and knowing the little small details are going to catch up. And this is what we’re relying on. You’re going to rely on your technique, you’re going to rely on your teammates to go out there and be successful. So next man up, not missing and just like you talked about with Noah (Igbinoghene), I had confidence for him to go out there. Are you going to get those explosive plays? You don’t know. You see the different big plays that go down the field and you want those guys out there that you know are your starters and your stars to be able to help you; but when you don’t, the next guy’s got to go in there and get it done and that’s why I feel confident enough to be able to put those guys whoever it is out on the field.”Eric Studesville – January 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Eric Studesville
(What did you think of the run game production last week?) – “Well, I would want it to be better. I think that we’ve got a talented room that can contribute in a lot of different ways. As running backs, they want to touch the ball, so we always want to be more productive. We feel like we can have a positive influence on the team in the game when we do that.”
(Snaps were more toward RB Jeff Wilson Jr. than RB Raheem Mostert, which is a little unusual. What led to that last week?) – “Just the flow of the game and things that happened within the game. We’re on the sidelines and we’re talking constantly between those two guys. It’s a physical position, we’re late in the year and as we get going, we’re trying to find somebody that’s got the hot hand as we go. I think in the last few weeks, you’ve seen that happen. We’ve alternated at different times for different reasons.”
(In recent weeks, we’ve seen a few plays where RB Raheem Mostert breaks and multiple tackles. I like those runs.) – “I do too. (laughter)”
(It reminds me of Ricky Williams-Jay Ajayi days, you know? How does that impact the juice for the team from your perspective?) – “Well, I think any time a player on your team makes a play that brings juice to the group. I mean, that’s what this is about. These guys are out here because they want to make plays. They want to make a difference in the game and have a chance to affect it. So I think that’s – but you can’t artificially manufacture those. Those happen within a course of a game and good players do that. Raheem (Mostert) is a good player. We’ve got a lot of players on our team that have made big plays for us, not just like that. I think all those things, whether that’s offensively, defensively, special teams wise, they energize that whole sideline, and you feel it. That’s what we want. We want everyone together pushing this thing forward. Everyone’s got a piece of this.”
(Specifically when an offense is playing with backup quarterbacks, how much more important is it to get those game-changing plays from a running back room to add to the offense?) – “I think game-changing plays are important no matter who your quarterback is, and that’s an easy answer. Certainly, we feel like we have to find ways to contribute. But again, you can’t look to do that. That happens within the scope of each individual play. You play that play out, and if it’s there and you take advantage of it and make the play, then that’s what it is. But you can’t say, ‘Oh, on this play, I’m going to jump this ball to the edge and be on SportsCenter tonight.’ And then all sudden, it’s (a loss of) minus-six and now you’re not on SportsCenter, or you’re on it for a different reason.”
(I think a lot of us think of T Terron Armstead as protecting the quarterback’s blind side. But when Armstead is not there, what happens with the run game? How does he affect the run game, both during the week and actually on Sunday during the game?) – “Well anytime you don’t have one of your better players in there, there’s going to be an effect on everything – run, protections, mentality, attitude. He’s a captain of this team for a reason, so I think anytime that he’s out of there, something is missing. And we say it, and it’s not cliche, but that’s an opportunity for someone else then to get in there and to get reps and to get better. This is a game of attrition. There’s things that happen in this game, and everyone has to be ready to step up and go in there. And when one of your leaders goes down, it’s certainly more difficult, but that’s an opportunity for someone else to step up into a leadership position.”
(For a guy like FB Alec Ingold, whose game is all hands, blocking, catching all that stuff, what does it say about him to club up and go out there and play like that?) – “I think for the fact that six days post-surgery with pins in his thumb, for this guy to tell me on Tuesday, ‘You’re not playing without me this weekend,’ I think speaks volumes to how much character he has, the toughness that he has, the mentality that he has. I think it also speaks volumes as to how invested he is in this team and that he wants to be out there with his teammates, contributing whatever way he can.”
(With RB Raheem Mostert and RB Jeff Wilson Jr., both have good yard per carry averages. Obviously you haven’t run the ball a ton compared to some other teams. Are you generally pleased with what the running game has given you when you’ve run the ball this season?) – “I would like to run the ball better. I would like to run the ball where we’ve had more production. But at the end of the day, I want to win football games, and that’s what our focus is. I think we’ve done a good job at times when we’ve had opportunities – some things we’ve missed, some things as a group that we haven’t done as well. But I always want to improve. I want to be better. I want our group to be an elite group. I think that’s the standard that we set and that we talk about. We have quality people in that room and now we’ve got to keep working and pushing to achieve that goal that we set out there in front of us.”
(I wonder, although you’ve had T Terron Armstead for most game days, not having him available for most practices, how much does that affect the run game preparation?) – “It does. I mean, anytime somebody’s missing, it affects it. But again, that’s an opportunity for someone else who may have to go in and play and do that. You adjust things – we didn’t have Alec (Ingold) all last week doing things, so that’s an opportunity for someone else to go in there. We have to come up with schemes and plays that accommodate that.”
(I’m just curious from more of like an overall perspective, there’s not a lot of players on this team with a lot of playoff experience. This is a must-win game. How much do these games change mentally for the players understanding that it is a must-win, just not having that experience of going through it?) – “What game isn’t a must-win when we go into it? I mean, every game – we get 17 opportunities. That’s what we get. It’s not 82 in basketball, it’s not 160 or whatever it is in baseball. We get 17 chances to do this, and every one of them makes a difference for us. So that’s why when you start fast early, that’s an advantage. When you struggle early, that’s a disadvantage, because now you’ve got to scramble. Every game is critical to us. This game is just the most critical one to us right now because it’s the next one we have.”
(Most games, when you win, you lose, you still have a game the next week. This game, you lose, you don’t have a game next week.) – “But we should approach every game like that because nothing’s promised (and) nothing’s guaranteed in anything that we do. So every game is an advantage and an opportunity for us to go out and perform. That’s what it is – that’s how I view this game. That’s how I think this game is (while) yes, the playoff implications of this game, but every game we play is like that. Every game that these young people are in are like.”
(Closing Statement) – “If I could say this, it’s kind of been on my heart here. I want to speak to Damar Hamlin. First of all, that myself, my family, our thoughts and prayers are with that young man and his family and what they’re going through. And he’s got a tremendous battle. That family is battling. But I hope that they understand that they have support from the brothers around this league and the families – that they have an extended family to help them with this battle (and) that we’re all thinking about that young man. These young people that go out here are extraordinary young people. They really are. They’re extraordinary young people. And for something like this to happen is truly terrible. But they have a support system. We’re sending thoughts and prayers and support to that family, that organization and for that young man, because there’s a lot of things that are bigger, bigger than this game. What’s happened there, that focus needs to be and know that that family and that organization know that they have support around the league.”Jon Embree – January 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree
(Sort of an outside the box question. I’m just curious about TE Tanner Conner and your goals for him this offseason, since we probably aren’t going to speak to you again until May or August. Just what would you like to see as a growth area for him this offseason?) – “Just continue to be a student of the game, learn about some of the things from a run-blocking standpoint, scheme, understanding coverages. That’ll be something that I’ll try to work with all the guys in the offseason during OTAs, because a lot of the stuff that we need to do, we can’t do because of the way the rules are with the (NFL)PA and everything. So I try to use that time to just really teach the guys about football – coverages, fronts, why you’re getting this look, best way to attack, certain things like that. So that’s what I’ll be doing with him and, really, with all the guys.”
(One thing that’s fascinating about TE Hunter Long is he arrived here as a polished receiving tight end for Boston College. Now he’s been used in a lot of blocking packages. So what is TE Hunter Long? Is he a skilled receiver and blocker? What have you learned about him?) – “Well, it’s been quite a journey with Hunter Long. (laughter) We’ve had some interesting times. The thing I’ve learned about him, one, is football is important to him. So that’s good to know with him, because there were times I wondered about that. So football is important to him. He can be a pass catcher as well as a run blocker, and that’s obviously, as you know in our offense, that’s important if you want to be a major contributor and all that. Just really with him, it’s about staying healthy. He’s (had an) ankle sprain then he had the concussion. And it’s not something that I’m down on him for – it was out of his control and all that. But I think I’m looking forward to this offseason with him as well, just to see if Hunter can become that complete player for us.”
(You had just mentioned that at times wondered if football was important to TE Hunter Long. Is that something normal or why did you have that thought?) – “Why did I wonder that about him? I just sometimes wondered about preparation, how hard did he prepare. Part of it – it’s not his fault, it’s just getting to know people. That’s really the biggest thing with the first year when you’re coaching new people is just really getting to know what’s important to them, how they work, how they prepare, different things like that, do they have things going on off the field that can be a distractions, all that stuff. So it’s been a little process getting to know Hunter (Long) and it’s been a lot of fun, really, the last six weeks with him, dealing with him and all that. He’s handled – he’s gotten the short end of the stick a couple times and he’s handled it very well. Like I said, I’m excited to see what happens with him next year.”
(Just a quick follow up on a separate note, I hate to ask you kind of a year in review question, but when you look back at the tight end room that you have in San Francisco obviously with TE George Kittle, and then you kind of look at the work that you’ve done with this tight end room, do you think that you have, in terms of the skillset, you have the tight ends to maximize this offense? Because entering the year, we talked a lot about how important the tight end was, not only as a receiver but as a blocker and as an extension of the offensive line.) – “You want to know do we have – can that room, can we…?”
(Do you have the room or the tight end that maximizes this offense?) – “That’s a trick question – it’s yes and no. (laughter) I’m always looking to get competition going in my room. When I had (George) Kittle, I was trying to get people in there to compete with him as well. The No. 1 job as a coach, one of our top things to be an effective coach is you can never be satisfied. So I’m always looking for people to put in my rooms, no matter who’s in there. So I don’t know if that answers your question or anything.”
(What’s your honest assessment of TE Mike Gesicki, now that you’ve had 17/18th of a regular season with him in your offense?) – “My assessment as far as?”
(Overall.) – “It’s been up and down. It really has in our room in general. It’s been up and down between injuries. Mike (Gesicki) learning how to contribute without having the ball in his hand has been a process. I think it’s something that as we’ve continued to move forward that he’s gotten better at and has kind of embraced it as much as he can, that aspect of playing this position. But what we do in that room is really unique because you’ve got to pass block, run block and you go out for passes. When you’re asked to do those different things, sometimes those skills maybe aren’t as developed as they needed to be. Maybe they’re skills that are completely new, or maybe it’s just something that you can’t do. So for me, it’s just finding out what they can and can’t do and try to put them in those positions. Mike, I mean, everyone wants to talk about targets and all that stuff and plays and that’s not something that I’ve focused on, and I don’t feel like he has per se. Me and him have had conversations probably once a month just about what’s happened as far as his usage, how we can try to improve it and things that he needs to continue to work on and that’s what he’s done. We all know what Mike is as a past catcher, there’s things that I would like him to get better at as a route runner, whether it’s zone or man releases, there’s always – there’s a lot that he can get better at, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. There’s a lot I can get better at. So I thought Mike has done a good job dealing with the different things, and you have the quarterback carousel going on too. So there’s a lot that goes on when you’re dependent on other people to get you the ball, when you’re dependent on certain coverages that we’re hoping to get to try to get you the ball and sometimes those things don’t go your way. It would have been easy for him to be very frustrated with it. It would be easy for him to try to be a cancer in the locker room and all that and he’s done none of that. So like I said, all those guys I’m pleased at how far they’ve come. We’ve got a long ways to still go.”
(To that point, what has your communication, your relationship with TE Mike Gesicki been like throughout the season?) – “I think it’s been good. I mean, you can ask him on it. I mean, we sit around, we laugh and joke. We’ve had very serious conversations. We’ve had very lighthearted conversations. One on one, I think it’s been good seeing the dynamic between him and Durham (Smythe). They’re like brothers. So I think having someone like Durham to help him through the tough times has added to his ability to focus on the next day, the next practice, the next play.”
(I think it’s probably obvious to anyone who follows the team that TE Mike Gesicki is likely going to get more money in a larger role elsewhere in free agency. If that indeed is the case, do you believe from the body of work that you’ve observed that TE Tanner Conner and TE Hunter Long are ready for more prominent roles with the Miami Dolphins next season?) – “They’ll have to be. (laughter) Unless you know anyone coming through the door. You’ve got to do it with what you’ve got. Whatever we do, that’s (Head Coach) Mike McDaniel, that’s (General Manager) Chris Grier, what we do in that room, as far as adding or subtracting and all that. My mindset is whoever you put in there, I’m just going to try to coach them and help them try to be the best version of themselves.”
(A question for you in your role as assistant head coach. We know this team is on a five-game losing streak and injury problems. You mentioned the quarterback carousel. Where are they mentally and what could get them to the best place mentally going into this game, whether it’s team meetings or coaches talking to them?) – “Sometimes you have to be careful. You can’t just (say), ‘Oh, let’s have player-only meeting. Let’s do this. Let’s do that.’ That, I think, adds to the problem. I think when you look at it, you got to look at it from the standpoint as a coach. I look at it is how are we losing and are we competitive? And bottom line, we’ve lost, like you said, five in a row. But we’ve been very competitive in those five. It’s been a bounce here or there. And as coach, sometimes you go back and you look at the games you won, how many games did we win because of a bounce here and there? Unfortunately, that’s football. I believe when you look at the 16 games that are played every week, 12 or 13 of them are going to come down to one score. It’s going to come down to two minutes. It’s going to come down to a field goal. It’s going to come down to a punt – whatever it is. Our guys have been right there and we just have not made the right play, made the right call as coaches, and that’s contributed to – that’s the reason why we’ve had five consecutive losses. The great thing about it is we get one more chance at it, and that’s all you can really, as a competitor (and) as a coach, is literally that 24-hour cycle. It’s like a corner – it’s like a pitcher that gives up on home run, whatever it is, you’ve got to think about the next pitch. You’ve got to think about the next game. And if you dwell on it, then that becomes a problem. So I think when you look at our team, yeah, we lost five in a row. But I think if you look at how they’ve competed, how they’ve continued to come out going to work, how the next guy up has come in and done the best that he can to try to help us win, whether it’s a practice squad guy, whether it’s a guy coming back – but everybody goes through that. Every team – you find a team that hasn’t had injuries, they haven’t played. (laughter) So everybody’s gone through this. For us as this organization, it’s trying to find a way to get that win on Sunday, and then we’ll see what happens.”Josh Boyer – January 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2022
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(I know, obviously, everything’s focused on the Jets. You’re not looking back at all this year. But just one sort of backward looking thing if you could answer, what one or two things come to mind, if I ask you, what did you think you all would be better at as a defensive unit this year and haven’t? What’s the first thing that comes into your mind?) – “I just think that from a week to week thing, usually when we don’t have success, the first place you start is usually on third down because third down gives you an opportunity to get off field, get the ball back to the offense. And a lot of times in the red area, we’re getting them to third down and those become four-point plays. So if you get off the field, statistically you’re given the three points on the field goal that’s over a 90 percent make when you’re talking about 15 and in. And we’ve gotten to third down in those situations, and obviously if you stop them there, like I said, that’s a four-point play. So those are the areas that’s a stress point for us each week. And usually when we’re successful there, then good things happen. And then when you’re not, drives extend, and they can become scoring drives. A lot of times we’ve made offensives go the hard way. We’ve been competitive play after play. But, when we have opportunities to get off the field, we need to do that. When we have opportunities to eliminate points in the red area, we sure need to do that. And obviously we’re working hard on that, and we do each week. That’s kind of how I see that.”
(For the past four games, your defense has been on the field giving up sustained drives late in games. I know, those drives are all different for various reasons. But if you could change one aspect of your team’s execution, in those situations, what would be?) – “Get off the field on third down.”
(I was curious, on the Patriots last touchdown the one yard pass to WR Jakobi Meyers, it seemed like there was some miscommunication. There was nobody lined up over Meyers and LB Duke Riley ended up running over there. From your perspective, what was kind of the miscommunication there?) – “I would say there was definitely miscommunication. And again, to me, that starts with me. Obviously it didn’t get communicated well enough on what we should be doing. We weren’t aligned correctly and there were guys trying to make it right. It didn’t happen. It was miscommunicated. So again, at the end of the day, that’s my responsibility, and that’s the way I feel about it.”
(How do you think your defense played overall last week, and I know you didn’t win, but without LB Bradley Chubb and without CB Xavien Howard. You hold them to 16 points. They had the pick-six. How did your defense play overall?) – “I think always our guys play hard, they give good effort. The first drive ends up scoring a touchdown. The very first third down of the game, when we have an opportunity to get off the field there, we get a penalty. We get a penalty later on third down where we’d have an opportunity to get off the field. And then really, talking about those four-point plays, we had a third-down play down there in the red area that I’d say we didn’t execute it the way that we needed to, to give ourselves a chance. I think, when you do those things, I think we’ve done a lot of good things. We’ve forced offenses to drive the field. I think when you have the opportunity to get off the field, we need to make the most of those.”
(You spent a lot of years in New England, just how coincidental is it that you now need the Patriots basically to lose to help you guys get into the postseason?) – “Whether you go back four weeks from now, or four weeks ago or now, the focus isn’t on what anybody else does. It’s what you have in front of you. Like our focus is on the Jets. And then however things shake out, they shake out. We’ve had opportunities to keep things in our control, and it’s not. But what is in our control, and the things that we can control, is our preparation for the Jets. And we’re going to focus on that today. I think that’s where all the mindset and all the energy and time spent is on the Jets, and whatever happens, happens. I think that’s just kind of the way we approach it and look at it.”
(CB Kader Kohou has been very impressive as a rookie this year. One thing that’s kind of been an issue is the defensive holding penalties. How do you address that so it doesn’t continue?) – “I think all three penalties that we had last week I think were very obvious penalties. Kader’s was basically hooking, and really it’s a top of the route position thing. Most of the time he’s in pretty good shape on that, and a lot of times – the college game is officiated a little bit different and as the experience goes on, I think you get a better grasp of things. I think for the most part, he’s done a pretty good job at the top of the route. I think sometimes when you get to the top of the route and you get in a little bit of trouble, your natural instinct is to grab or hook. Sometimes it gets called, sometimes it doesn’t. But I think those are obvious defensive holding, DPI (defensive pass interference) penalties depending on whether or not the ball is in the air. I think those are techniques and things that you continue to work on and you work on ways when you are in trouble, how to combat that. It’s no different than if you’re pass rushing and a guy sets up a certain way, and then you have to counter that rush. It’s the same thing when you get to the top route. If you think it’s one thing but it’s actually another, there’s different ways without grabbing to try to recover.”
(Hopefully, obviously, you’ll be in the playoffs, and hopefully we’ll be talking to you next week. But if we don’t see it for a while, I want to ask in all candor, how much is not having CB Byron Jones, S Brandon Jones, CB Nik Needham, and DE Emmanuel Ogbah hurt you in terms of things that you ordinarily would want to call, would want to do, in terms of how limiting it’s been? Candidly, how hurtful has it been for you?) – “I don’t really approach it that way. You see what’s available to you and what you think’s best that week. Like I said, I think it’s crushing for all those guys. We were talking about Brandon and Nik earlier in the year, and Ogbah – all of them, go down the list. You know how much time, effort and energy that they put into it. Obviously those guys were out there for a reason. They have a certain skillset that you like to use, and there’s certain things. Then other guys that are put in other positions usually don’t have the same skillset. Again, just week to week, you go into the week and you prepare and you try to put the guys that you have available to you in the best position to succeed. I don’t think you sit there and go, ‘Oh, well, woe is us.’ Your focus is really on what’s in front of you and what you can control. I think that’s probably the best way to approach – it’s easier said than done. I get it. But I think that’s the best way to approach life. Worry about the things you can control and all the other stuff is just noise.”
(One reason I asked that is because one of the old tenets of how this defense was constructed by General Manager Chris Grier and the others who were involved is we’ve got two high-end cover corners, among the two highest paid corners in the league. We have one of the league’s best blitzing safeties. So to remove CB Byron Jones from that, to remove S Brandon Jones from that, I would have to think it would have some hurtful effect, and how you’re able to execute what the Miami Dolphins defense would like to be. True or untrue?) – “I think you have to adapt to what you have available to you. I’m sure there’s other teams that are dealing with quality players that are not there, and they have to adapt and deal with that. None of us are promised tomorrow. So again, I think that’s why you always try to focus on what’s in front of you, what you can control and the day that you have at hand. All the other stuff, worrying about that, I think you’d probably drive yourself crazy.”
(And despite all the adversity that your unit has faced, and I understand the season isn’t whole yet, how would you view the job you’ve done adjusting to everything that has transpired?) – “I would say it’s unfinished because the season’s not finished. And the reality of it is, our record, our stats, those are what they are. There’s a time and a place to go back and review and look at all that. Obviously, we self-scout as we go, and then we try to make changes that we think (need to be made). But all of our focus right now is on this Thursday, what we have in at practice and the Jets.”
(Looking back at the first meeting, the Jets had five rushing touchdowns. As it relates to rush defense, what’s something that you guys certainly need to do better or differently than the first match?) – “I would just say consistently with our techniques, and then sometimes there’s games that you go out there and things kind of snowball and I would say it was a pretty competitive game until the fourth quarter there. Then I think some things went downhill after that. Obviously we can coach it better, we can play it better. That happens. I mean, it happens every year to every team. There’s usually something that goes along like that. Give them credit, they executed and we didn’t. We’re going to have to be at our best to execute this week.”
(If we had gone back to July, and I were to tell you that in January, you and I would be in this room and CB Byron Jones would not have played a single snap in that time that had elapsed, would you be surprised?) – “The older I get, I’d say nothing surprises me. I think that’s kind of a way to approach things. We kind of had this conversation last week. I don’t approach things like that and I can appreciate – I understand what everybody’s trying to do, like a year in review, how’s this? I can’t really help you guys, to be honest, because my mentality is not that way. My mentality is, ‘hey, look, we got Thursday today. We got early down review. We got third down.’ Our focus is getting ready for the Jets. It’s not like what happens if you don’t have this guy? How did you feel about this on the year? It’s just not part of the mentality. It’s really not. And we do self-scout and we study things that we’ve done well and things that we haven’t done well. But I think it’s insanity to worry about things you can’t control. I think the things that you got in front of you – and the reality of it is, our record will be what our record is and our stats will be what our stats are. That’s what it is. As a coach, as a coordinator, all you can control is the things that you have in front of you. I think that’s the way we approach it. I think anything else is wasted energy and wasted time.”
(It’s very admirable that you don’t want to use those as excuses with us, even though they’re valid excuses – DE Emmanuel Ogbah, CB Byron Jones, S Brandon Jones. But when you sit down with Head Coach Mike McDaniel at the end of the year, as he reviews his coaches, would you not feel compelled to say, “Look, I had to put together a defense missing three of my top defensive backs, which cut basically at the strategy of what we’re trying to accomplish – two great cover corners, a top blitzing safety, I didn’t have that available to me. I didn’t have my top edge rusher available to me most of the year.” Is that something you would feel like you should at least raise to him in a season-ending review?) – “No. I don’t. Look, when I was born, I was born with a collapsed lung. The doctors told my mother I wasn’t going to live. From day one, you deal with what’s in front of you and you do the best you can. I’m very fortunate. I have a beautiful wife, who’s fiercely loyal. I have a beautiful three-year-old daughter who’s very strong willed and a sweet little girl. I have two great parents that I would say broke a cycle of poverty for our family. Hell, I even like my in-laws. I got great in-laws. (laughter) I get to come to work every day with guys that are highly motivated, that want to win, they work their ass off, and don’t really pay attention to ‘okay, we’ve had this, we’ve had this, we’ve had this.’ They just keep working. Like yesterday, we had a very – I would say deliberate, intent practice. I mean, they’re highly motivated guys. I don’t think about stuff that way. I think more of like Lou Gehrig on July 7, 1939. I feel like the luckiest man on earth. I do. And whatever comes my way, I’ll be ok. And whatever comes our way, we’ll be ok. But we’re going to keep moving forward. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a football coach, or whatever you do. Again, I understand like – I love history. I do. So I think you can learn from the past. But I just don’t think you can live in the past. And I don’t think you can worry about the future. I don’t think that’s a good way to live. And I really – I live, I would say with a fearless peace because I’m very fortunate for the things that I have. I’m very fortunate for the opportunities that I have. And whatever happens, regardless of right, wrong or indifferent, I’ll be ok. I think you try to teach that to your players. There’s a great saying out there: ‘the only person that I’m competing with is the man I was yesterday.’ And I think when everybody kind of approaches it that way, and you get guys to work, you get them to buy in – like we’re all we’re human. We’re all going to make mistakes. You try to learn from those and do the best you can.”Danny Crossman – January 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(The missed field goal last week, what happened on that?) – “That’s just a miss. That was one of the few times where – not that he was frustrated but you could sense that – Jason was very surprised. He thought he hit a really good ball and it started clean. But that’s part of it. The deeper you go in that stadium at that end with the wind, if it gets caught by a gust or you don’t get a completely hit, then you’re a little bit at the mercy. Any time we go out there to kick a field goal or a PAT, the plan is to come away with points. That’s the job and we’ve got to get that executed.”
(How has K Jason Sanders dealt with the ups and downs?) – “He’s been outstanding. And again, I don’t know if you guys watch him – you’re at the beginning of practice when we kick field goals. It’s very, very, very infrequent that he misses. We’ve got to get that to translate on Sundays, Saturday nights, Mondays or whatever day it may be. He’s got great confidence in what he does and in his program. I’m sure he’s probably disappointed when it doesn’t go through but that’s the nature of the beast.”
(I know every kick and every situation is different but if you go back two years to 2020, he was 8-of-9 on kicks of 50 or more yards. Since then, he’s been 3-of-11. Is there anything you can kind of pinpoint as maybe a commonality when it comes to the long range field goals for K Jason Sanders?) – “No. There’s not. And with Jason, a lot of those kicks – Jason, his history and what he does, I don’t want to say they’re not different because they are. And there’s some of them like in New England where wind can be a factor. But when there’s no wind, those kicks, for Jason, a 52-yarder and a 42-yarder, there’s no different in that kick for him and how he approaches it and how he hits the football.”
(Obviously there’s a huge drop-off in accuracy over 50 yards. Is it purely the byproduct of accuracy or have you seen any diminishment in leg strength since his first two years?) – “Absolutely not. They’re not short. Like anything, the longer the ball is in the air, there’s more chance of things happening. I know you guys are probably sick of me saying it but I’ve not lost any confidence whatsoever in Jason and I hope for him, for the organization, for the team, for the fans, for everybody – but most importantly for him, that we get back on that string of success.”
(Is K Jason Sanders still hitting those long field goals with generally the same frequency he did early on in his tenure?) – “Yes.”
(With WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. dealing with an injury, I’m curious, hopefully you can share this, have WR Tyreek Hill and/or WR Jaylen Waddle specifically said to you “I will do this if you need me?) – “Those discussions are in-house and I wouldn’t share them.”
(P Thomas Morstead had four punts inside the 20 last week and I know that injuries affect special teams. Can you quantify how difficult it is to get everybody in sync? Maybe some guys aren’t used to Morstead or maybe some haven’t played special teams. I don’t know. How difficult is that?) – “It’s tough. We had this discussion a couple of weeks ago. There’s great years where you play Game A and you’re going to have the same guys the next week and you’re going to have the same guys the next week and practice and everything. It’s part of it. It’s a work in progress but that’s the job. Our guys have done a great job. Some guys have been asked to do more. Some guys have been asked – in three different weeks they’re asked to do three different things. They’ve worked hard and given the best that they have. We all want better. You guys have heard me for four years. I’m never happy. I’m never satisfied. You always want more. You always want better. But they’ve worked hard and they’ve given it their all.”
(The process, is it mostly like film or is it extra reps on special teams?) – “It’s all of the above. There’s a lot of avenues of it but again, the players are doing everything that we ask them to do.”
(While not disclosing who is going to return punts on Sunday if WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. can’t go, I just wanted to ask you beyond him, WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, who else on the roster has enough experience doing that where you would feel comfortable having them return punts?) – “Again, I’m not going to get into that. There’s guys – we’ll keep that in-house. I understand it, believe me. They’re great questions. But we’ll keep that (in house).”
(I’m curious during this game on Sunday, how many times are you going to check your phone on that Patriots score?) – “Never because that would be a fine and my wife will be highly disappointed in me if I rack up a fine. But we want to go out, play well and win a game. The rest of it – I want the taste of victory and I want to go win the game.”
(It will be available on the scoreboard in the stadium.) – “I won’t even look. Our task at hand is I want to win a game. We have an opportunity. Let’s go win a game.”
(P Thomas Morstead is fifth inside the 20-yard line, ninth inside the 10-yard line and 12th inside the 5-yard line. What’s the key to being so successful pinning the ball inside the 20-yard line?) – “I think it’s a combination of obviously his experience. He understands what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. Then you need to have good gunner play. You need to have good protection. It’s the unit. That’s critical. One of our jobs – it’s the whole team but one of our jobs is field position and the more opportunities you have to be able to pin the opposition, it makes it more difficult for them just as we know when we start backed up because it’s not easy. It’s a group effort but Thomas has really done a nice job.”
(You’ve had a lot of injuries on special teams and it’s made for some difficulties but how would you grade the job that you have done this season?) – “I’m not going to get into that until after the season.”Frank Smith – January 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(I was going to ask you if you’ve seen T Terron Armstead at all this week and when you don’t have him – and without getting into details obviously for competitive reasons – when you don’t have him, how much does it impact the game plan that you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel put together on Tuesdays, as you explained?) – “We see Terron (Armstead) every day. He’s in every meeting. He’s always actively participating, making sure he communicates with the guys. Not having him out there obviously is always challenging, but we’re relying on the guys that are stepping up in his place or in his stead – play on words. I do work for Mike McDaniel. (laughter) So just ultimately, I think it’s always the challenge when you have a guy who brings such a presence, such a stability in his position. It’s on the guys to step up and meet the challenge and make sure when you have a guy in the room and he’s giving his advice or he’s giving his two cents on what he’s saying; to utilize that, harness it and put it into your play.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel gave some insight to us after the game. I asked about the shifting philosophy – especially on early downs, first and second down – of running so much and he had mentioned not wanting to play into the hands of the Patriots defense. I was curious if that game plan was any type of response or reaction to the first two games without QB Tua Tagovailoa and T Terron Armstead where maybe there were some pressure issues and whatnot? How much of the previous games without Terron did that kind of lead to a change in philosophy?) – “I think more of it was the defense and what we saw on tape as far as what we were trying to attack and establish. So our goal and obviously throughout the game we want to make sure we established the run. We saw opportunities that we wanted to try and maximize that. We’re a block here, we were close on some things from really getting what we want in that capacity. So I think ultimately not really thinking of it overall, is like, hey, we wanted to shift philosophy as far as that; we were just really trying to make sure that for us running the football is obviously a priority. We thought we could establish some concepts that would really help set up other plays. So I think it’s always we’re trying to look at as far as attacking the defense, what is presented, trying to put stress on them through different schemes and different systems.”
(For right now, who gives you the best chance to win at quarterback on Sunday?) – “Right now, with where we’re at injury wise, I mean, we’re basically working through the situation. We feel confident with every guy in the room. We ultimately, as coaches, we’re always trying to make sure that we put our guys in the best position to be successful, so working through it with all of them, the communication of concepts, things we’re seeing to attack the defense. So I think ultimately, when we’re looking at the room, every guy in there that we feel that we have confidence with; when their number is called, I think ultimately that would fall – all position groups – is that we’re trying to build confidence in what they’re doing through our schemes and systems and then ultimately our communication. So I think ultimately we’re good to go with whoever we have to play.”
(What ultimately led to the decision to put OL Liam Eichenberg back in the lineup and how would you assess his play against the Patriots?) – “Before he got injured, he was making some progress, working on some fundamentals. When you come back off injury, obviously you don’t lose your starting spot because of injury. So him coming back, when you come off of an injury for so long, obviously there’s some things that he knows he wants to work on. You’re getting your body used to moving at the way he wants to, the speed of the game. Obviously he’s aware of some of the things that we’re working on fundamentally this week. He’s got such a professional approach to how he’s doing it. He’s always locked in to what he needs to do, so I think that the hardest game to come back is after from an injury, after you’ve been out, especially as a younger player, as you’re getting back into several weeks time of getting back into the rhythm. That’s ultimately the hardest thing, but we’re excited for this week for Liam to build upon the positive things he did. And I think ultimately that we as coaches, we’re always trying to tailor our schemes, our drills to help them to improve on things that occurred from last game.”
(Back to the quarterback situation, what are some of the things that do give you confidence in QB Skylar Thompson were he to go on Sunday?) – “His physical and mental toughness. His ability to play within the timing of the play. His fundamentals. Arm strength. A lot of stuff you’ve seen when he’s in there. We just think that for a rookie quarterback, he’s displayed so many great traits that we feel very confident about and we’re excited to, if he has to play, playing him and then obviously with everyone in the situations they are, we feel confident with the group.”
(If I’m not mistaken, QB Tua Tagovailoa is the only quarterback who has started and finished a game this season. Can you quantify how tough it is to make an in-game quarterback change. I know you guys are all professionals, but I would think for coaches and offensive line, that things are different for everybody. How tough is that and how do you adjust?) – “It’s probably more challenging just the nature of they’re controlling cadences, they’re controlling rhythms of the ball being snapped. The communication in the huddle is a little different from all of them. So there’s little minor things that go that you’re just getting used to in the course of a game. But to your point, we’re professionals – everyone, us coaches, players – and just trying to make sure that if there are in-game adjustments, if that’s with personnel, making sure that we do in our preparation trying to get guys enough work, timing, hours together. I think that comes with the communication that we have to have before we go into a game to make sure contingencies or when guys are given look reps, we’re just making sure that we’re all connected and making sure that as coaches, we’re monitoring things so we can try and seamlessly move the players in between, if that was necessary and it had to happen.”
