Tuesday, August 25, 2020
WR Jakeem Grant
(How do you feel like your training camp has gone. I know obviously you missed today, but overall?) – “I feel like it’s going pretty smooth. It’s going really good. I’m going to continue to go out there and get better every day at everything that I do, continue to gain the coaches trust and be consistent every day.”
(Obviously WR Albert Wilson and WR Allen Hurns opted out earlier this offseason and you guys lose them; but that means that somebody has to pick up their reps and I know you’ve always been looking for that bigger role. What does their absence mean for maybe what potentially you can do in this offense?) – “It means a lot. I hated that those guys opted out, but I know that they have family issues or anything that they have going on, and I definitely support those guys on that record. I’m ready to take on whatever role that coach has for me. Whether that’s picking up the slack with those guys opting out and catching those targets, I’ve been waiting for it, and I’m ready for it. I’ve been pushing that message that I’m a receiver before a returner for the longest now. This year will be the biggest year to show it.”
(I warn you that I’m going to stir it up a little bit here. Who’s the fastest guy on this team?) – “Me. You don’t even have to say it. Me, of course. I’m going to say it every single time. I don’t care about – I told Matt (Breida), I don’t care about him running a 22.3 (miles per hour). I don’t have to run full speed to beat guys to the end zone. I don’t have to do all that. I’m going to continue to say that. If he wants to race, it’s nothing. I’ll continue to tell him, ‘you’re not going to beat me bro. I’m just telling you.’”
(To piggyback off of what I asked before, those guys talked about playing a lot of slot. You’ve been playing more outside as of last year, but you have played slot before. Where is your comfort playing slot if they need you to?) – “My comfort is at an all-time high playing the slot. Like you said, I played the slot probably throughout my whole career until I got to the NFL. When I got here as a rookie, I was playing in the slot. I got to learn behind Jarvis (Landry) and they moved me to the outside; but I’ve been playing the slot my whole life. It’s nothing to play it, just more communication with the quarterback, identifying coverages and just knowing where to be at all times. I feel comfortable playing that without a doubt.”
(I’m wondering about the left-handed quterback thing. Obviously you guys have a lefty now. Is there some adjustment? Is it any different?) – “I would say not really. As a receiver, if the ball comes your way, you’ve got to catch it. It’s as simple as it gets. I feel like there is nothing different, besides the spin rotation of the ball. It’s nothing different. Like I said, if you’re a receiver, catch the ball when it comes your way.”
(We saw you telling WR DeVante Parker that you’re 200 pounds these days. I wanted to ask you if there is any truth to that and how did you get all of that weight on?) – “I’m not 200 but I always like to tell him I’m 200. (laughter) I’m close there, I’m close to 200 though. I’m getting there. I just tell him that because I like to mess with him because he likes to weigh in with his backpack on, with his shoes on, with everything on. He’s always like ‘Yeah, I’m 225 (pounds).’ And I’m like ‘No, you’re not. You’re like 215 after you take all of that stuff off.’ That’s why I kept saying that I’m 200 because if I weigh in with my backpack and all of my clothes on, I’d be 200 too. That’s where that all started.”
(On that WR DeVante Parker tip, we saw that he had that cartoon out this week or like last month. He had the annoying nephew, and a lot of us couldn’t help but ask, are you the inspiration for that nephew? Do you know?) – “I think that I am. We’re trying to do a little feature on that with him being ‘Unc’ and I’m ‘Neph’. That’s probably what it is because as you can see with the mic’d up (segment), I’m always messing with DeVante. Whether anybody has film on me or the cameras are on me, I’m always messing with DeVante. I’m just trying to tell him that I’m bigger than him, I’m better than him, just the typical ‘Unc’ and ‘Neph,’ just to continue to get that rolling. Everybody loves it. It’s just something that we did just playing around. I guess it just blew up.”
(You’ve got Head Coach Brian Flores and General Manager Chris Grier who are the only black GM/head coach duo in the league. I wanted to know from a player perspective what is it like to kind of see your leaders kind of look like you?) – “It goes a long way just to see that those guys – that you’ve got a GM and a head coach that are black. That speaks volumes for the black community, as well. For me, I wouldn’t say it’s different if I had a white GM or a white head coach. It doesn’t mean anything to me. But I would say it does speak volumes. It’s something that a lot of people look to in the black community and to show that black people can reach that level of success too. With me, it’s the same as anything. If it was white or black, it doesn’t matter to me; but it’s great to see black men take that type of empowerment.”
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
QB Josh Rosen
(We haven’t talked to you in a bit, but obviously this has been an eventful offseason for the team and for that room. I just wanted to get your thoughts on the team obviously drafting QB Tua Tagovailoa and what that means for you.) – “It is what it is, and I’ve just got to come out and try as hard as I can and compete as hard as I can every day and hopefully get the nod at some point in the future. Right now, I’m just focusing on improving every day. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is an awesome guy to learn from and I’m sort of trying to continue that progress I had near the end of last year. I think I’m doing a pretty good job of it and we’ll see what the future holds; but I’m just focusing on my development at this point and I think it’s been going pretty well.”
(That development that you’re focusing on – what are the specifics of that? What is it that you’re trying to improve on?) – “Defenses. Not just watching film, but being able to apply information from the film room onto the field and what that means for my particular play. So I think I’ve been able to – more so than I ever have in my career – been able to eliminate guys pre-snap and start to zero in a little bit quicker on who I want to throw (to); and that’s helping me get the ball out quicker than I ever have and make fast decisions and not make my offensive line look bad by holding onto the ball. (laughter)”
(We’ve asked QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB Tua Tagovailoa and Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown about the atmosphere in that quarterback room and I’m curious to hear your perspective on what it’s like working in that room every day and some of the things that you glean from the collective brain trust there?) – “’The collective brain trust?’ That’s a good one. (laughter) There’s sort of previous relationships everywhere in the room. I’ve known Tua (Tagovailoa) since I played him in high school and then he almost came to UCLA so I knew him at that point. And then ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) and Chan (Gailey) and Robby (Brown) all have their history; so we all have some sort of familiar connections and it’s pretty hard not to goof around with ‘Fitz’ and Chan in your room, so it’s a really awesome atmosphere. I’ve learned a ton. I think we all have really good attitudes and we’re trying to make each other. And I think it’s been working. I think we’re all getting pushed in a very positive direction. I think it’s good for the Dolphins.”
(For the last three days, you’ve been getting limited work in 11-on-11s. I don’t know if that’s injury-related or just how the rotation is working. How do you take that?) – “Definitely not injury-related. I’m all healthy out here. But I don’t know, that’s not really up to me. I’m just trying to control what I can control. I think I’ve played pretty well. Definitely a couple mistakes that I’m trying to fix here and there, but I’m just trying to put the best product of Josh Rosen on the field that I can. It doesn’t really do well to focus on much else.”
(I guess just listening to you for the last few minutes, you seem positive and comfortable with where you are. I know a lot of people wondered if you were going to ask for a trade or ask out given your situation. Why is that not the route that you chose to take?) – “Because I like competing, but I think a lot of it is there is just a lot to learn and I think you kind of have to treasure the moments that you’re with a 16-, 17-maybe-year vet with ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) and a coordinator like Chan (Gailey) who’s been around the game for a long time. So I don’t really know when or where. Hopefully this year, here, I’ll get a shot to play; but I’m just trying to focus on preparing for that shot as best as I can. That’s within my control and I’m actually pretty satisfied with how I’ve come out and played this training camp. Obviously some holes here and there that I definitely need to improve on, but I really think I’m sort of trending in the right direction. I’m enjoying it more than I ever have actually.”
(Your positivity is just so radiant right and at a point where it seems kind of – you have an awkward place in this quarterback competition with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick being the expected starter and QB Tua Tagovailoa kind of being the heir to it. Just how do you find this positivity because I don’t think your career is probably gone the way you probably wanted it to go or maybe envisioned it going, versus how it’s gone so far?) – “I feel positive because I’ve noticed I’m a lot more comfortable behind center this year than I was last year. And I’m walking up to the line of scrimmage with a plan, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve put a lot of work in this offseason, and after I got benched – got benched the first time – but the final time, the last time before (against the Washington Football Team), I sort of did kind like a big mirror reality check and just wanted to completely turn inwards and see what I could do better. I kind of flicked myself in the head, like, ‘you’re literally in the room with one of the best minds to ever do it, and that’s ‘Fitz.’’ So I basically just sat there and tried to swallow up as much as I could from him and I took that sort of process into the offseason, and I’m pretty happy with how I feel behind center at this point. I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think I’ve only scratched the surface with what I can do. I guess the reason that I’m sort of positive outside of this situation is because really all I can control is my development, and I think that’s going in a good direction and I’m pretty – I don’t know the kind of word to pick here – but I’m doing well.”
(We were looking back dating back to your college days and we think it’s been five or six straight years where you’re going to have a different offensive coordinator. You just mentioned Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey and I was just wondering, how do you kind of overcome the challenge and does it ever become overwhelming at some point just going through so much change?) – “It’s overwhelming every single year and then there’s always kind of a moment – usually it’s like spring ball in college or like OTAs, where you feel like you’re drinking from a firehose and there’s always kind of a moment where it clicks and you’re like, ‘okay, I’m starting to feel this is my language.’ Each year it’s just kind of a rough road to get there, but once you get there, you’re pretty comfortable. They’re just different styles and this offense that Chan (Gailey) runs is very player-oriented, so it’s just put your guys in position, let them make plays. He wants us to play fast, make quick decisions and let our playmakers make plays, and we’ve got a lot of them. This a pretty stark contrast to what we had last year. It was a very different style and I’m not saying one is better than the other, but I’m just enjoying my time in this one right now and learning some of the nuances that – Chan and ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) have worked together and it’s really cool, actually, to go back and watch old Chan-Jets film with ‘Fitz’ at quarterback, so we can see those specific plays and we can see and ask and talk about the thought process of that play call and what ‘Fitz’ was thinking and why he threw it somewhere, and reliving some of the heartbreaks and celebrations on some of the plays. (laughter)”
(I found it interesting where you were talking about that soul-searching that you were doing. Given how you were drafted as high as you were and had whatever amount of expectations you may have had on yourself or your career, how difficult was it to reach this point where you’re as positive as you are in where you are and would there a point you could see yourself saying, “okay, I tried to win a job here in Miami, maybe it’s time to try and win a job elsewhere?”) –
I’m not really focused – maybe my mindset will change at some point in the future – but I’m not really focused as much on winning a job as I am just getting better, because I feel like I’ve bounced around a little bit at this point in my career; and when you focus on this, you kind of forget about this. I’m not saying I forgot about one or the other, but my peace right now is in my development as a quarterback, and I feel like that’s been going in a positive direction and that’s why I feel good about where I am right now. I was drafted in the first round and I think around the league, people still think I can play to a certain extent; and just whenever that opportunity comes wherever it comes, I just want to be prepared for it because they’re few and far between, and I didn’t do great with the two that I already had. Not many people get third chances, so I’m definitely going to seize the opportunity when it comes.”
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
G Ereck Flowers
(I wanted to ask you what the experience was like with COVID and how you got through that.) – “The first couple of days were rough. Then it’s like, you slowly just get over it. Then you have to work your way back with conditioning and your breathing and all of that stuff. I think they did a pretty good job of helping me work back before just throwing me onto the field. I think it went pretty smooth.”
(I pretty much watched you grow ever since you were in high school, seeing you working out at the L.A. Fitness gym back in the day. How has it been for you now coming full circle, playing high school ball here, college ball here and now coming back to your hometown to do what you’ve pretty much grown to want to do?) – “Yeah, it’s crazy because down here growing up, I’d go to the Dolphins camps, to their practices at the stadium, to their games. Then growing up in optimist, we had little – the stadium provided certain people – teams, like their optimist clubs and high schools – to work at the stadium to get fundraisers and all of that stuff. So I’ve grown up around it this whole time, from UM football to the Dolphins. It’s pretty crazy being able to play at all three levels at where you’re from; but I wouldn’t trade it for nothing, really. I’m extremely happy.”
(You stepped up and have sort of been the leader of a lot of these rookies, having them out here after practice. How important is that for you to step up and serve as a leader, considering you’re one of the most experienced offensive linemen on the team?) – “It’s very important. I didn’t learn the importance of that – practicing the right things and taking that extra time – it took me about four or five years. Coming into the league is all about what type of room you’re coming into. Every room isn’t the same. Everybody doesn’t come into rooms with a veteran or a coach that really teaches you the right way of how to become an NFL linemen. The past year I got to play with Bill Callahan, who by far has been the best teacher – not just in football – I’ve been around since I’ve been playing football. He’s taught me so much and being able to play next to a Pro Bowl right guard, Brandon Scherff. (Callahan) showed me some of the stuff he did with the Dallas o-line and just his resume, the proof is in the pudding. Going into my fifth year in the league, I kind of just forgot everything I knew and just tried to learn his way and the right way, and be around guys that do it the right way. That’s just how they do. Good players go before practice and stay after practice, and they put in countless reps to get any type of production.”
(I just wanted to ask you about the rookies in your room. You guys have maybe two or three rookies that may start or play for you guys at some point. What is it like to play with young guys now, as the veteran in the room?) – “It’s kind of crazy because this has been – it’s crazy to think that because this has been the fastest, kind of slow but fastest – like I’m in my sixth year. It’s kind of crazy looking at these young guys and they’re actually looking at me. I’m like, ‘Damn, just yesterday I was the young guy trying to find somebody to teach me how to do something this way.’ It’s been cool, man. All of them are open-minded. All of them are trying to learn. They’re all trying to get better. Me personally, I’m just trying to give them everything I know and take what I know and go on with their own experiences. I’m just doing what I can. They know if they have questions, they can ask me. Anything I see, I just try to tell them and I ask them to tell me what they see on my end. We just work together.”
(You talked about your practice habits and your career began at tackle and then you kicked inside to guard, and you have your best year last year in Washington. What do you think it is about playing inside that really suits your skillset so well?) – “I think I have decent length and arms, as far as getting on guys faster. I think that kind of plays a little bit more into my strengths as opposed to having shorter arms, as far as trying to get on guys. I’m taller, so I think that kind of helps. Also, I’m kind of a bigger dude, so I think it’s easier like right now, as opposed to trying to time it. I think I could play tackle but I wasn’t equipped with the right – what I know now, going back to it, it probably would’ve been different. But as far as guard, I like it because it’s right now and I’m more of a right now type of person.”
(You already mentioned that you’re in a teaching role now. Do you find yourself teaching G Danny Isidora a little bit more considering you both are from South Florida, both went to The U. Although you guys are around the same age, do you find yourself teaching him a little bit more since you have a little bit more of experience than him?) – “Yeah. I came into the league with Brandon Scherff and he taught me more than all of the older dudes I was with. I’m just relaying the info that was relayed to him and how it’s supposed to go. Me and Danny actually worked out together in the offseason. I brought my equipment and we tried to work, because COVID kind of messed a lot of things up. I think Danny is having a great camp. I think his hand placement has been really good and he’s doing really good out there; and it’s not me teaching him, I’m just relaying info that I got from somebody else to him.”
(With the size that you guys have, this whole line, you’re one of the bigger guys but you guys have a lot of girth. Do you think that will play well for you this season, especially in this heat?) – “I hope so. I really hope so. But it’s one of those leagues where any game – you just never know. You just try to go in there the most prepared as you can. I kind of hate that we don’t have any preseason games. We didn’t have OTAs. We didn’t have time to really gel. I think we’re going along fine but we’re going to have to wait and see. We’re going to have to get better every week – week after week after week – and really just continue to get better. I think that has to be the mindset to get to where we want to be. Wherever we start, just get better. It’s kind of unfortunate how it is right now.”
(I was wondering about Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall. I haven’t gotten to know him too well just yet. Is there something that he says all of the time?) – “Yeah. ‘Marsh’ has been great. I think he’s doing a great job with rookies like learning their assignments, and really trying to get them together. It’s really just going to take everybody. It’s going to take everybody because of how it is and how we just jumped into camp and guys are finally getting together and meeting each other, it’s kind of hard for him to go to every single player. But he’s trying to get to every single dude and get as much as he can get done. I think he’s doing a great job. Like I’ve said, we just have to keep getting better.”
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to get your update on a couple of things. First of all, the decision to put DE Curtis Weaver, waive him with an injury designation. Are you expecting him to be back? And two, how is LB Kyle Van Noy?) – “Weaver – I’ll start there – a lot goes into these decisions: the injury itself, player performance, salary cap, depth at the position, next year’s draft. There’s a lot that goes into it. Those conversations happen with myself, (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), the coaching staff. He’s waived. He could get claimed. It’s a small percentage of players who do get claimed in this situation. We’ll see if we get him back. We’ll know this evening. As far as Kyle, he got banged up a little bit yesterday. He’s getting treatment. He’s feeling a little bit better. We’re just going to take this thing day to day and we’re hopeful he’ll be out there – I know he’ll try to get out there – as soon as he can.”
(What kind of camp is QB Josh Rosen having?) – “Like all of the quarterbacks, he’s had some good moments, some bad moments. All in all, I think he’s competing. I think he’s made some – of all the quarterbacks, he’s probably got the biggest arm. He’s made some incredible throws. Consistency – I would say we need to always be more consistent at every position, specifically the quarterback. There’s a lot of competition there from ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) to Tua (Tagovailoa) to Josh. But he’s a talented player. He’s been competing. Consistency, really at that position, you need it – situationally, from a leadership standpoint. I do think he’s making a lot of progress and hopefully we’ll continue with that progress.”
(I know you’ve talked about it in different situations before but there was another black man that was shot in a public manner by police with Jacob Blake. I wanted to see if you wanted to say anything about how that impacts you and your team going forward, and if that’s something that you’ve discussed with them.) – “There’s a lot that goes into this. I think for me, when a situation like this comes up again, it just reminds me that there’s a lot of fear in this world, there’s a lot of anger in this world. There’s racism, there’s classism, there’s sexism. There’s a lot of division. And what we need is unity. That’s what we need. Unfortunately, situations like this create more division and I think it’s sad. I haven’t watched it because I’m not ready to watch it emotionally. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to see; but there’s just a lot of division. We need more unity. I haven’t talked to the team about it yet, but we’ve had conversations about race and injustices. I think they know where I stand on this. I think individually, we all need to be better. We all need to be more empathetic. We all need to take more ownership of how we treat people. Again, there’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of anger on all sides. It’s unfortunate. There’s a lot of division. Hopefully, I just try to do my best to improve the situation anyway I can. I think our team tries to do that and use our platform to create more harmony and camaraderie in the world. Hopefully we take the situation and try to make something good out of it; but when it continually happens, it’s frustrating. We’ve got to do our best to try to make a kinder, more empathetic, more unified world.”
(We’ve talked about G Ereck Flowers before but in speaking with the three rookies yesterday or two days ago, all three of them were very complimentary of what Ereck has done for them in kind of a mentorship role. Is there a way to describe just how valuable that can be, especially when there’s so many newcomers and rookies on the line?) – “I think it’s very valuable. Ereck has had a lot of experiences in this league. He was a high draft pick, has played for a few different teams, has had a lot of ups (and) downs over the course of his career. He’s learned a lot. I think he’s really kind of taken those young players under his wing to a degree. To me, what better of a guy to do that than someone who has had as many experiences as he’s had. He’s been in different places, been in different systems and had some success also – success and failures. When he talks to a young guy – a young offensive lineman – he’s talking to him with a lot of knowledge. I think if they just do a quick Google search, they’ll read about it and know that he’s been through a lot; and he’s gone through it and he practices hard every day and it’s important to him. He goes about his business the right way. I think he’s learned a lot over the course of his career. That’s been nice to see. It’s Ereck but it’s also Ted Karras, it’s Jesse Davis. I think Julién Davenport, (Adam) Pankey. They all work well together. Danny Isidora. They all kind of work together and helping those young guys get acclimated to the National Football League. Obviously there’s no preseason games, so they don’t get to go out there and bang with another team, but I know there’s a lot of conversations about what it’s like to play a game in this league. Those conversations are happening and guys like Ereck, Ted and Danny, they’re leading those conversations.”
(This is kind of a two-part question. I wanted to ask you about your thought process on rookies because last year, especially with G Michael Deiter, you put him in there and threw him in the deep end to see how he played. It seems like you’re doing the same with a lot of these rookies from CB Noah Igbinoghene to the offensive linemen. Is that just your coaching philosophy? I also wanted to ask you about CB Nik Needham, because he’s gotten a call up to the first team because of Noah’s injury. How has he done so far in training camp in your opinion?) – “I’ll start that with Nik. I think Nik has made a lot of improvement over the course of the year. How Nik came into training camp, he’s learned a lot. I think he’s matured a lot. I think he’s taken a lot more of a professional approach from his rookie year. He’s made some strides. I tell these guys, when you get your opportunity, you have to take advantage of it. It’s like basketball. When you get your opportunity, that’s like getting to the free throw line. You either make it or you don’t. That’s kind of some of the things we talk about. So when Nik goes in because somebody else goes down and plays well, that’s what we’re talking about as far as taking advantage of your opportunities. And that’s not just football, that’s life in general. Nik’s done a good job. As far as rookies in general and throwing them into the fire versus not throwing them into the fire, look we play the guys we feel give us the best chance to win. That was the case with – I know you mentioned Dieter. Last year he played a lot of football – a year ago – and we felt like he gave us the best chance to win. But at the same time, there’s a little bit of forecasting and predicting that we need to do as coaches, as an organization and as a personnel department, where a guy may not be better than somebody else Week 1; but the prediction and the forecast is that he may be better in Week 12. Those are decisions we have to make. Every team is making those decisions in some form or fashion. I’m not saying that’s necessarily the case. We might feel like he is better right now – not Deiter, I’m not talking specifically about one specific player; but in general, we may feel like ‘Player X’ is better than the veteran. But we may also feel like ‘Player X’ is going to be better. That’s a lot of what goes into the decisions here. You guys will never really know what I’m thinking at the end of the day. (laughter)”
(We were asking about G Ereck Flowers. Obviously he spent some time on the COVID list. CB Xavien Howard has been out for a while. Common sense says if they’re on for more than a few days, they’ve got something going on. For those guys have had long absences because of COVID, have you noticed just the normal conditioning they lose from a week of not practicing, that the illness might have some effect on them or that it takes another week or two to get that breath back?) – “I think every case is different. They are. Everyone responds to an infection, that infection, sickness, injury – everyone responds a little differently. Obviously if you’re out for an extended period of time, your conditioning – whether it’s a world-class athlete or you or I – is not going to be as good as it was the 10 days or two weeks prior. That’s always going to be an issue, it doesn’t matter who it is. We just take it case by case and try to work the guys back and work them back into shape, and get them out there as quickly as we can. Everyone needs to practice. Everyone needs to prepare. We’re closing in on cuts and the first week of the season, so we need the guys out there. But yeah, to answer your question, everyone is a little bit different.”
(There were some reports this summer about some teams reaching out about QB Josh Rosen’s availability. Obviously I know you won’t divulge much into that but it seems that whether QB Ryan Fitzpatrick holds up or he doesn’t, or you may not be ready to unleash QB Tua Tagovailoa, that Josh has a role to play here. Can you expand a little bit on where Josh kind of fits in with that quarterback competition?) – “Josh is competing. He’s competing like everyone else. I think we’re – let’s call it halfway through training camp. We’re not anointing anyone the starter. This is still a competition. I think he’s going to fit in and his role is going to be what he makes it, just like we say with every player at every position. Unless you’ve seen our depth chart and you know what I’m thinking – to me, we’re still going here. We’ve got a practice here. Guys will be competing and trying to get better. We’re going to work first, second and third down, and red area and two-minute. We’re going to work some two-point plays today. We’ll just compete and see how this thing shakes out.”
(On LB Raekwon McMillan, where is he in his development?) – “Raekwon has obviously started a lot of games in this league. (He’s a) good tackler, good communicator, smart player, plays in the kicking game. He’s still ascending. I think he’s doing well. He’s playing well this training camp. There’s a lot of competition at the linebacker position between Raekwon and Elandon Roberts and Calvin Munson and (Jerome) Baker and Kamu (Grugier-Hill). We’ll see where the chips fall. Yeah, everyone is still competing. This is practice seven of 14 of training camp, so we’re right at the halfway point. No decisions have been made but we’re closing in. We’re definitely making our evaluations and some people are ahead of others. You’re not going to get that out of me today. (laughter) We’re just trying to – we’re going to try to field the best team we can and try to compete for an entire season. Raekwon is playing well and I think he’s a very good player in this league.”
