QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I wanted to ask you about tight ends. You seem to find them a lot. Is the offense geared to more opportunities for them or is it maybe a chemistry thing you have?) – “I think they do a good job of getting open out there on the field. A lot of the plays are tailored towards us going through our progressions in the quarterback room. Whoever is open, that’s really who we are trying to get the ball to. Obviously, it’s easier said than done.”
(You had joint practices with the Bears last week, now the Falcons. Are you getting different looks out there this week?) – “Yeah, I think their DC does a great job and their defense overall, they do a great job disguising looks. They have a lot of good players on their team. They do a great job communicating what they want to do and what they want to accomplish. I think today, for us offensively, we’ve got to be a lot better operationally. Getting on the ball quicker, seeing what the defense is giving us and playing. If you look at their two-minute drive, I think that they did a really good job from an operational standpoint. That’s something that we can also look at and continue to learn and grow not just on our side of the ball, but both sides of the ball.”
(Regardless of how many series you play on Saturday, what do you want to see from yourself and the offense in the second preseason game?) – “I think what we all expect to see is a cleaner operation. Everyone knowing what to do, minimizing the mental errors going out there; but really just going out there and executing at the highest level that we possibly can.”
(How would you compare how much you get out of joint practices opposed to how much you get out of a preseason game?) – “I think joint practices are really good because you get to see a good glimpse of the packages that these coaches have installed with the players on the defense and with their team. I would say when it comes more time to the preseason games, they obviously don’t want to show everything. Us too, it’s the same and I think it’s like that around the league too.”
(You mentioned their two-minute drill. On yours, you got pressured a couple times and after you came back to the sidelines. What was the nature of the conversation?) – “It’s just communicating. Just, ‘hey, how are you feeling in the back there.’ For me, just kind of talking to those guys about what I’m feeling and what I’m seeing as far as pressure and just communicating that to them. They don’t see everything. All they see is the guy they’re blocking.”
(You’ve gotten a chance out here to work with a lot of different receivers, which I’m sure that you would think is a good thing to develop chemistry with them; but at what point is it a concern that some of your top receivers that may be starting a lot of these games, that you are not getting to work with them because if injury? At what point is that concerning?) – “I don’t think it is a concern. For me, I think the most important thing for them is their health and making sure that they’re right because if they’re not healthy then that’s going to be a concern. We won’t have any of those guys to come out and play with. It gives a lot of opportunity to the other guys. For me to get work with them and for them to also experience the different looks, the coverages. Whereas a lot of the veterans who are injured, they’ve seen a lot of that. We’re all still in the same room, we’re all still in the same meetings communicating and talking through that. I don’t think it’s a concern at all.”
(I know we’ve been asking you about the hierarchy of the play caller. In regards to this dynamic when you were at Alabama, you had Josh Gattis and Mike Locksley kind of co-offensive coordinate. Do you see any similarities to back then and now?) – “Really, when I was at Alabama it was only Locksley that was talking to the quarterbacks and kind of giving us the play calls. I think that’s something that they would discuss; but it was always one person coming and talking to our group in the quarterback room. I think it’s very similar to here with Charlie (Frye). Charlie is the one that gives us the plays. He’s the last person that we hear in our headset. Whatever discussion goes on between Charlie, Eric (Studesville) and George (Godsey), that’s what they communicate. But the last person we hear is just Charlie.”
(When did you begin your relationship with Charlie? Was it 7-on-7 as I’ve read?) – “It was when I was in high school at the Elite 11.”
(What was your interaction with him then and impression of him then?) – “I thought Charlie was a good guy. He’s a good coach. Very fun to be around. When I was able to talk to ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) about a lot of that, when he was talking, ‘hey, what do you think about this?’ I was all for it.”
(You had mentioned that they disguise coverages real well. You’ve seen the Bears defense, now the Falcons and the Bengals next week. How do you think that has helped your progress, having an offseason where you’ve had different defenses, different schemes to look at compared to last year it was just the Dolphins you were facing every day?) – “I think it’s really good for not just young quarterbacks, but young rookie players to also get this opportunity. To see different looks, how guys can go from four down, to a three-down drop and what to expect within the coverages. There are just a lot of things. For us, that’s what we’ve seen and we’re going to go into the film room later on today and try to get those things corrected come tomorrow.”
(I noticed in the last preseason game that there were moments where you were able to avoid pressure by sensing or feeling where it was coming, and you were able to keep your eyes down field. What are some of the specific drills that have helped you improve in that area, and what do you think is the key to keep in mind on gameday in terms of pocket mobility?) – “I think Charlie (Frye) does a great job with the drills we do beforehand – before practice starts for us, just to get our feet in line with our arm. But we’re never looking down. You always want to look at your target. I think it just comes with practice – the practices we’ve had with our defense, and also the practices that we’ve had against the Bears and now the Falcons.”
(Inaudible) – “I don’t remember, but it’s good to see you.”
(Having the opportunity to kind of comingle with other veteran quarterbacks from around the league – last week in Chicago and now a guy like QB Matt Ryan. What can you gain from conversations here and there?) – “You can gain a lot. From a personality standpoint, I think Matt is a great guy. He came up, first class and introduced himself to all of us in the quarterback room. Also just watching how he’s played and how he’s handled himself throughout the years, growing up when I was young, it’s fascinating to see that he’s still in the league and I’m just starting my journey here. It’s awesome.”
(I couldn’t help but notice that you made a few connections with WR Jaylen Waddle today. Where has that growth grown in the last few weeks that you guys have been together in camp?) – “I think it’s tailored to what the defense is giving us more importantly. With these guys, when they are bringing pressure, what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to get the ball out quick. We’re not trying to get hit. We’re trying to work on the operation of our feet and timing it with our arm, and really what we’re seeing out there. I never realized how many times he was targeted today. But that’s the mindset that we have, just try to get the ball out quick, and let our guys and our playmakers make plays for us.”
LB Jaelan Phillips
(How good is it to be back out there, being able to practice after sitting a week?) – “I’ve just been sitting, literally just crawling out of my skin to get back. I’m blessed that I could come out here and get the reps that I did. I’m definitely feeling better and excited to keep going.”
(What were you able to take away from the Bears game, just being on the sidelines? What were you able to learn?) – “It just gives you a new perspective of the game. You see things differently. You have different conversations with the coaches and everything like that. I thought that we played really hard. We definitely have some things to work on, but it’s definitely a good starting point. It’s only up from here. It was cool to see it from that perspective.”
(I saw you with your hand in the dirt a few times. Did that feel like a natural thing to do even though you’re listed as a linebacker?) – “For sure. It’s definitely something that I’m used to and comfortable with and excited about. You’re going to see me do a couple of different things.”
(How exciting is it to make full use of your multiple skills?) – “I love it. I love being able to utilize my body and do everything that I can. The fact that I’m standing up some, putting my hand in the dirt – I’m a team guy so I just want to do everything that I can to help the team out. It’s cool. It’s really cool.”
(Last week G Solomon Kindley told us that the one-on-one drills favor the defensive linemen. Do you agree with that? Also, what should we be looking for in those drills? What are you trying to get done?) – “I guess to answer your first question, it depends on who you’re going against. Sometimes the defense is going to come out on top and sometimes the offense is. I don’t think it favors the D-line by any means. If anything, it favors the O-line because they know when the ball is about to be snapped. To look for in those, honestly it’s to master different parts of your arsenal honestly. Like if I’m coming into a one-on-one, I have a plan and I’m working a certain move or working different counters based on what he does. It’s really cool to be able to take the one-on-one drills and apply that to a game when we’re playing 11-on-11.”
(After seeing how other teams operate when you go through joint practices like the Bears, and now you have an opportunity with the Falcons – what have you seen, what have you learned just seeing how other organizations function?) – “It’s an incredible experience. It’s been really cool because I know a couple of the guys on both the Falcons and the Bears. Being able to see them, and then the coaches, I had this two or three month interview process where I got to know some of the guys, so then I finally got to meet them in person. It’s really cool to be able to have this experience and have them come down here and see how they run their program, and they can kind of see how we run ours. It’s fun to be able to see some old friends. It’s just friendly competition.”
(How much of a goal is it to be a starter as a rookie?) – “For me, I’m just here to plug and play. I’m here to do whatever it is they need me to do. Depending on the reps the coaches want to give me, that’s up to them. I can’t really control that. Just know that I’m out here working my hardest to improve on every aspect of my game and I’ll be ready when that time comes.”
(How well do you know a guy in your draft class TE Kyle Pitts? Do you know him much at all?) – “I don’t know Kyle really well. We know of each other, like we know who each other are. But I’ve never spoke to Kyle. I know a couple of the guys on the team though – Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, I used to play with him at UCLA. Adetokumbo Ogundeji, I know him from the pre-draft process. He went to Notre Dame. A couple of guys – Darren Hall he’s from Southern California, he’s from where I’m from. Yeah, I’ve got a few friendly faces.”
(Any personal goals for 2021?) – “To honestly improve all aspects of my game. It’s my first year, first try at the NFL. I’m just excited to see where I can take this and how far I can go and just come out here. Honestly, I’m just blessed to be in this position. No particular goals, but I’m working every day.”
(What part of your pass rush do you feel most comfortable with and what are you trying to add in your first year?) – “I think I’m a versatile guy. I can kill you with speed; I can kill you with power. They always say, you don’t want to be a jack of all trades as a pass rusher. You want to be able to master one or two moves. There have been things that I’m working on and I’m just trying to perfect my craft.”
(Are you all the way back from what was bothering you physically that kept you sidelined? Are you limited still at all and how frustrating was that 10-day period where you couldn’t do team work?) – “Yeah, I am just listening to the trainers and coaches. They’ve been kind of guiding my recovery process. Last week I was able to get into one of the practices with the Bears and then obviously today I was able to get in. I can tell you that I feel good and I’m just getting better every single day. Obviously the timeout was frustrating; but like I was saying earlier, it was kind of a new perspective. It was real cool to be able to see it from the outside looking in. It always makes you be able to appreciate the game more when it gets taken away for a couple of weeks. I just know when I came back today that I was definitely excited. I woke up this morning in a good mood.”
RB Malcolm Brown
(We know that obviously you’re going to get playing time, RB Myles Gaskin will, RB Salvon Ahmed will but not having the opportunity to start very much in your NFL career, I guess two starts even though you’ve played a lot – would starting be meaningful? You got the opportunity on Saturday. Would that be meaningful to be a regular-season NFL starter?) – “Yeah, it would be dope; but at the same time, I’ve been in this league for so long I know how it goes. We all have our roles and we all contribute to this team in different ways. Starting, not starting, playing time – at this point in my career, I’m not overly worried about it.”
(What are your impressions of RB Myles Gaskin?) – “I like him. We’ve got a great group of guys in that running back room. A lot of guys, we just like to work. That was my first impression of Myles (Gaskin). He just puts his head down and works. There is nobody in that room that is a prima donna or anything like that. It’s a great group of guys in there.”
(What was it like seeing another team out there?) – “It was good, man. It’s always cool to practice against somebody else. You go against your own team for so long. To go against somebody else is always fun – to get something new, something fresh and some more competition out there.”
(Do you like this version of training camp better? Where it is a little more condensed but you get to see different faces to break up the monotony a little bit?) – “I don’t know if I have decided if I like which one better or not. Like I said, it’s always cool to see something new, something fresh. Like you said, some new faces and go against somebody else, a different scheme and just getting more experience with some different stuff is the biggest benefit to that.”
(I know you must take pride in your goal line work. What did the Bears do in that preseason game? There were a couple games out there in the joint practices that you got the better of them then.) – “They have a great group of guys there. I think that they are known for their defense and especially that d-line. They got it done. We just really need to execute better on our end. Nothing too technical, nothing crazy. We just need to execute better and do a better job of what we were doing.”
(When you start, do you also think that also gives the other running backs an advantage when you wear them out and then those other running backs can come in against a defense that’s tired?) – “It works both ways. Just getting something new out there. Some other guys and change of pace. I’m a change of pace. Whatever you want to put it like, I just know the group of guys that we have in our room, we contribute in so many different ways and it’s always fun. But yeah, I think it gives us a little bit of an advantage just switching different types of backs in and out.”
(You guys play the Falcons this year. Is there anything that you can take away from this week that would help you in October?) – “Really we just got to go back and look at this film and see what we can improve on. After that, I think we will get a better feel of it.”
