DT Raekwon Davis
(How has training camp been? Hot as hell right?) – “Bro, it’s steaming. It’s been good though. It’s been good for the most part.”
(I thought you go off easy the first week. There was a little bit of cloud cover, you went inside the last day.) – “It was alright, but great work though. Still great work.”
(We know what the situation is with the defensive line, but how important is it for you to get on the field on those third-down snaps?) – “I’m just trying to (work) my way in shape, make sure my preparation is great and just be active on my third down. Instincts. That’s it.”
(How has your offseason been? What are some things that you focused on to get ready for training camp?) – “Just the little things. Staying in shape, keeping my body in shape, just having great preparation, going over the new scheme, that’s about it.”
(How much different is this scheme for you as a nose tackle, as opposed to everybody else?) – “A little similar, just little tweaks here, and there. I mean there are a lot of tweaks here and there, but kind of similar. A little more tweaks.”
(Challenging tweaks? You’re still going to take on two right?) – “Right now I’m everywhere. One play I might be at the nose, one play I might be at the one, I might be at the three, who knows. I’m everywhere in this scheme.”
(How different is this defensive line or these fronts compared to what you’ve played the last couple of years?) – “Very different. I feel like my whole room has gotten better, even the young guys have gotten better. We just continue to study our film, study the scheme, have great preparation and just be ourselves.”
(I remember DT Vince Wilfork. He came out here once and you were able to talk to him about the Patriots style of defense. Who would be a defensive linemen from the Broncos, or wherever Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio has been – is there a guy you’ve looked at film on?) – “I don’t want to say his name but there are a couple of guys. I watched some of his old film. The nose that was moving around was No. 96. I can’t think of his name.”
(What did you notice about what he was able to do, and how he could best exploit the scheme?) – “Just playing everywhere basically. He was playing everywhere. He was in the shade, in zero, in one, in three (technique). He was everywhere. I was just watching his technique. In Chicago, (Akiem) Hicks, I was definitely watching him play the three and different positions.”
(With obviously free agency, you’ve played your rookie contract. This is going to be your final year. How important is it for you to get a deal done before the season begins?) – “That’s not my focus right now. Right now, it’s just ball, and us getting to the playoffs, Super Bowl. We’re just taking those steps. My focus is not really my contract right now.”
(How do you think DT Christian Wilkins was doing in the summer?) – “He’s doing great. He’s one of the best DTs I’ve ever seen, been in the room with or just watch play..”
(You’ve got a lot of veteran guys on this defense, a lot of great players. How do you look at leadership, and for yourself as well?) – “Big. That is really big. You’ve got to be vocal. You’ve got to be that leader. You’ve got to just lead the guys. You’ve got to keep everybody going, just keep yourself going. Make sure everybody plays their role right and make sure it’s correct.”
(Do you enjoy that part? Does it come natural to you?) – “Yes, sir.”
(What do you think of QB Tua Tagovailoa’s sleeve?) – “It’s nice. I like it. I can’t believe he got it. I didn’t think he was a guy to get poked by needles but he got it. It looks good.”
(For as long as you’ve known QB Tua Tagovailoa and WR Jaylen Waddle, what have you seen from them this camp? Have they taken it up another notch or so?) – “Growth. I have seen a lot of growth from both of them. From ‘Bama, to coming in with Tua and then having Waddle come in, it’s been outstanding. They both have been working their ass off. It’s been great.”
OL Liam Eichenberg
(This morning, Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked a little bit about the process of learning how to play offensive line in this system. He talked about reverting back and trusting the way they want you to play. I just wanted to get your perspective on the second year of this system and how it’s going.) – “I just have to keep coming out here and work every single day, doing what they ask me to do. That’s what training camp is for; competing and taking it day-by-day. I’m just going to keep continuing to do what they want.”
(I know there’s been a lot of change with a different system. What would you say is the one thing you maybe have struggled with in your first couple of years that you’re really trying to progress?) – “I would say just getting my footwork down faster. That’s the biggest thing – run and pass. I’ve just continued to work on that in individual and then on my own. Just keep working. This is a perfect time for it, so I’m going to continue with that.”
(Does it feel your footwork is a little different inside compared to tackle, like you played in college? What are some of the differences there?) – “Just have to get that quicker and make sure you aren’t taking too big of a first step, which is something that I need to hone-in on and continue to improve on, getting that first step down and then get that second step going. That’s something I’ve been focusing on and I’m going to continue to work on it.”
(How much of a factor was your injury last year and your learning curve at guard?) – “Anybody who gets injured, it’s kind of a tough situation. It made me realize, I already knew this, but it makes you miss football that much more. It makes you really miss and reminds you of how much more you love it. I love playing ball, I love football but not being out there, not being with the guys, not working with them, it’s just something different that makes you miss it that much more. “
(Is there a frustration factor when you move to a new position and things are a little unfamiliar? Like at tackle, you probably expect things to go like that, and maybe at guard, you have to think more? How did that process go for you?) – “For me, it’s just playing big inside. Having the great coaches I’ve had, just trying to hone-in and understand what they want from me. That’s the biggest thing is just listening to what they want and doing what they say.”
(How hard are you on yourself during this process?) – “I’m very hard on myself. I get frustrated at times and just need to continue to work and continue to do what they want me to do and continue the techniques I’m being taught right now.”
(Do you judge yourself day-by-day? Do you take it week-by-week? How do you judge yourself at training camp?) – “I definitely take it day-by-day but at the same time, I kind of take a step back and see where you’re at. I was at center in the spring and take a look back at last week, there was good stuff I did, bad stuff I did. Just learn from my mistakes. You can’t keep repeating the same mistakes. That’s the biggest thing.”
(How did you feel about center? From my perspective, it probably doesn’t matter. I thought you looked pretty good although there with no pads. How did you feel there?) – “It was fun. It’s something that makes me more versatile. But at the end of the day, I want to play left guard here so I need to keep working on that.”
(Between periods, we saw you chatting with T Terron Armstead. Just wanted to get your perspective on the value he has outside of the actual football field?) – “It’s great having a vet in the room, someone who’s played for so long and also played with so many great guards. Just kind of listening from him, and at the end of the day, he’s a guy who understands every position on the o-line, understands all the techniques. He’s been around ball and a lot of great players for a long time. I always try to pick his brain as much as I can and he’s great for our offensive line room.”
(How much are you in touch with your brother, who plays at Ohio State, this time of the year and this year specifically?) – “We talk every once in a while. I think he starts up camp today. In the offseason, I talk to him more. But now that he’ll start up, I kind of let him do his thing. I mean it’s long days.”
(We were asking some of the guys how they feel about one-on-one, o-line vs. d-line. OL Rob Hunt says it’s a defensive line drill. I just wanted to hear your perspective on what that drill does.) – “I think o-line vs. d-line drill is a great time. You’re going to see a lot of stuff that maybe you won’t see during a game. We know it’s a time for me specifically to work on what I want to work on for that day. If I’m going to rock, set, up, kick or tight angle sets. Those are the biggest things. I just have to go with a plan and work from there. One day at a time.”
OL Austin Jackson
(Although you didn’t get to play too much last season, how do you see a second season in this offense benefiting you?) – “It benefits me a lot. While I was hurt last year, I didn’t go away from the facility and do my training elsewhere. I stayed right here. I went to all the meetings. I made sure that I was locked in mentally and I made sure that physically, I was in the training room or with the weight room staff every single day throughout the season and offseason, making sure I did what I had to do to be healthy and to be coming back to perform well the next year, despite being injured.”
(How do you feel on that ankle result? After OTAs, minicamp, and then a now week-plus into training camp, how do you feel?) – “Great. I don’t feel a thing. Stronger than ever. Yeah, stronger than ever.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel has touched on the difference in how this offensive line plays compared to how other lines are taught to play. How do you kind of feel that system suits your skillset?) – “When I get a task, I like to get the job done. Huge, huge kudos to this coaching staff for sitting with the players and helping us get a better understanding of what’s expected. I think playing in this offense, we utilize speed and that’s just one of my many skill traits that I benefit with. I think that that’s a plus in this offense.”
(How much are you looking forward to the joint practices next week?) – “I’m looking forward to them. It’s great practicing against your own guys, but when you go against each other for nine days, you kind of know everything you’re going to do. So, I’m excited to get out there and get some other guys and get some great reps against other teams so we can come together – offense and defense – and work on doing our job against another team. Looking forward to it.”
(What parts of your game do you feel best about right now?) – “My pass protection. I definitely feel more confident in my pass set and my ability to be stronger at the point of attack is much better. I feel much faster. Just having a better understanding of the offense has allowed me to play faster in the offense as well.”
(Does that give you confidence that your best is yet to come?) – “Yes. Correct.”
(What extra element does T Terron Armstead bring to the unit out there that maybe fans and the media don’t get to see?) – “It’s crazy, because I remember in high school – you know, he’s a lot older than me – I remember watching just the best tackles in the NFL, watching Terron Armstead in high school. Who would have known I would have grown up to play right next to him and learn a lot from him. He’s great guy. Very smart. He’s very intentional. I definitely try to pick his brain a lot when it comes to this football stuff because I feel like we’re both pretty locked into it.”
(What are the differences in the coaching methods for Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry compared to Matt Applebaum or I guess Frank Smith also.) – “Well, I’m not going to compare him to other coaches, because I’ve had three great coaches since I’ve been here. This is my fourth one? I can’t remember. Yeah, I don’t know. But all my coaches have been great so far. They’ve all invested into me and worked hard with me, so I really appreciate that. When it comes to Butch, I like his intensity. He’s very intense. How he goes about things is very deliberate. He does a good job of keeping us intense. He just brings a lot of passion every day, which I think we respect and feed off of it.”
(How much of – I don’t want to say obstacles is the right word – but how difficult is it to deal with a new offensive line coach almost every year?) – “That’s not my business. That’s how I look at it. Show up, play football, and I show up to work with my coach. So, that’s my business, showing up to work and get my job done.”
(When it’s the same system, although it’s a different o-line coach, how much does that help that transition?) – “It definitely helps a lot. Going into my second year, I understand the playbook. Like I said, even last year with me being hurt, I didn’t leave to train and rehab. I stayed right here in all the meetings even though I wasn’t playing, doing all the game plans, making sure I knew what I would have done if I was healthy. I think that all kind of translates and helps you play faster.”
(The tight ends have their tight end camp. Is there like a tackle camp that you guys all get together and bounce off ideas? Or is there a tackle you worked with this offseason outside of this building that you think made you better?) – “Yeah, I worked with a lot of tackles, actually. Not at like a tackle camp, but just at Pete Bommarito’s facility down in Aventura, Florida. There’s a lot of tackles that go down there like Orlando Brown, Morgan Moses. Some younger guys, some older guys. Just a lot of knowledge there. We’re all working and getting to it. But that’s a good idea. Maybe somebody will start a tackle summit. Is that what they call it?”
(Was there one thing from that experience that you felt you got better from?) – “It was just nice in the offseason to really talk ball. Just really talk ball and pass sets on our own, in our day-to-day to life without coaches there. But still just talking about technique and getting to work. It’s very hot out here so it was a lot of good work this summer.”
(What is your expectation for yourself this season?) – “To do my job correctly and extremely well every single play.”
(It’s been a couple of years since you were drafted here. How have you taken that roller coaster of your career and ridden along with it?) – “Well I’m grateful for the opportunity, first and foremost. No matter the situation, losing seven games my second year, moving from tackle, all that stuff, I’ve just been grateful through it all. I’ve had confidence in myself through it all. I’m excited that I’m still here and get the opportunity to play football. I think great things will happen.”
(T Terron Armstead comes off PUP and gets to be a part of practices now for the first couple of days here. What’s the value of having him out there compared to when he’s not out there?) – “The value of having him out there is he’s got a lot of leadership. It’s like an extra coach in the room, really. I think he’s about as old as our No. 2 coach in age. (laughter) It’s a lot of leadership out there. He’s a great guy. We love T-Stead. He always comes with that energy, he’s always looking out for us. It’s great having him out there with us.”
(The No. 2 coach is Assistant Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre right? How’s that relationship grown over the years?) – “It’s been great. It’s been great over the years. We both have approached each day the same way in terms of our approach and how we interact with doing our job. Outside of all the other stuff that quite frankly you guys worry about more then we do – if we worried about that, we probably wouldn’t be here. But we just show up and do our job. As a staff and everyone in this building, we lean on each other to get better.”
(T Terron Armstead is 32. I just don’t know, are we making him older than he is?) – “No. I’m just 23. I’m one of the youngest guys on the team. I get the room to talk crazy. (laughter)”
(You’re really 23 years old?) – “Yes sir. (I turn) 24 on August 11th.”
(That’s wild. Some people are just coming into the league at 23 years old and it feels like you’ve been here forever. Have you talked about how young you are and how far you’ve come?) – “I was just that young and showed up.”
(You couldn’t even drink.) – “I couldn’t even drink. (laughter) I had to wait about two months when I got down here to officially turn 21. It doesn’t matter. The reason we are here is because we have always had that confidence and belief in the process and our hard work and who we are, to compete and play football. It’s something we’ve been playing for so long. I played so much football in college and high school. We’re confident and serious about it, and it shows up in our work ethic and our performance.”
(A week short of 24 years old, do you still feel like your entire career is in front of you? There’s guys who don’t start out until your age.) – “Kind of like I said earlier, the biggest thing is to focus on the day. Attack what I need to do today, and make sure every play I have is great, full speed and physical. That’s what I focus on. That’s the focus to get somewhere else.”
(Big picture wise, some people say the most important thing for the 2023 Miami Dolphins is keeping QB Tua Tagovaila healthy. What do you think about the idea that you’re so instrumental in that process, being the guy who protects his blindside?) – “I love that responsibility. I truly do. It’s what I get up and work for. It’s what I get up and train for. It’s what I study for. It’s what I take care of my body for, so we can be the dominant line that we need to be in order for Tua to keep being himself. He’s a great quarterback. He’s going to get the ball out anyways, but he needs more time from us and that’s a responsibility we take every single day.”
RB Raheem Mostert
(In these drills out here when you’re not tackling to the ground, how much can you really tell about the run game, especially your inside runs?) – “When it comes to being able to get some live reps – well not technically going live – you still want to get a feel for everything, how the flow of practice is going, especially in the run game. You want to get your right fits, right reads and you get a little thump in there too every now and again, just making sure you’re staying protected but at the same time being smart. So I think that’s the biggest thing in regard to trying to get a feel of the offense and in the run game.”
(In the run game, how much do you need to get a feel for your linemen? I know there’s a couple spots where different linemen are in there and sometimes with the ones. Does that matter? Do you have to be in sync with your guard – especially your interior linemen?) – “Yeah, you have to really be in sync with the whole o-line and have to have that understanding and that connection. When it comes to this game that has been around for years, you can’t just – it’s just like the receiver and the quarterback. They have to be on the same page, they have to get the feel and the timing aspect. It’s the same thing, essentially, in regards to the run. So if you’re able to have that connection, especially with the interior – it starts with the center. If he’s able to make the right calls, right reads, then it just goes and spreads out in front of everybody. So that’s what you want, you want to make sure you have a better understanding of that.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned earlier that with QB Tua Tagovailoa’s training regimen, he saw some new versatility with the throws. Have you noticed anything different?) – “I feel like he’s been able to utilize his legs a little bit more, not in a running aspect but settling down, getting his five-step and three-step timing right. I peep all that stuff just because I’ve been in this offense, and I like to watch every little asset as possible. He seems like he’s finding his way in regard to the time management, how to work his feet, his lower body, his rhythm and his hips.”
(When it comes to somebody gaining muscle, do you think too much is made a bit by the people in the media?) – “I mean you can call it what it is. I’ve definitely seen (Tua Tagovailoa) bulk up a little bit ever since last year, but I think that’s more of a question that you have to ask him on his regiment. I feel like he’s in a good stance right now, he’s doing what he needs to do out there on the field and he’s delivering the ball in exceptional places.”
(You mentioned, I believe, last week you put focus on being an elite pass catcher. Can you talk about the area of your game where you felt you did work or what you worked on this offseason to improve that?) – “Yeah, every aspect you really want to work on in the pass game. Me being a former receiver, I understand the importance of your stance and coming out and your routes and how you’re not supposed to ‘blow your load’ – that’s what they call it – in regards to try to figure out what you have to do in the game. It’s just all those little things that help you be an elite pass catcher. So for me, I’ve always understood the importance of all the minute details that go into being a receiver. I just need to go out there and get the opportunity to show what I’m capable of doing. I’ve been doing it for years, it’s just now I’m on a road where I want to be a complete back.”
(What do you think of this whole group’s experience from last year, from a pass-catching standpoint from the running game?) – “We brought the group back from last year and then we’ve got the rookies coming in, both of them – Chris (Brooks) and De’Von (Achane). It brings a lot of versatility into the unit, but we all have an attribute, and we all want to just show that attribute as best as possible. I think this is the offense to do it.”
(Going from San Francisco to now here, you’ve had two of the best fullbacks in the game. What’s the value of a good fullback?) – “I mean obviously you see what’s going on with what I had in San Fran but also with Alec Ingold. He’s at the top of his game right now. If you see the way he gives those hits and is catching out of the backfield and he’s making all of these unbelievable plays, I give him nothing but credit just because I know what it looks like. I have a good fullback in front of me. He’s that guy. He’s the one that’s the down and dirty guy, the one that’s trying to do his best for the team and he’s going to put his body on the line no matter what. He accepts challenges, as you can tell, and to me, he conquers those challenges, whether it be small or big. In the gameplan, he does eveyrhting that he needs to do, so I’m very happy and everyone else around is happy that we’ve got him and also John Lovett. John Lovett as well, he’s a former Heisman in Princeton (laughter). That guy is also an athletic guy just walking around here.”
(FB John Lovett was a Wildcat trigger man, wasn’t he?) – “He was a Wildcat trigger man, and he was able to do everything.”
(It’s a position that’s kind of, I don’t want to say died out because they’re still doing it at a high level, but it’s decreased more. Did you play behind a fullback prior to San Francisco?) – “No, not really. I was in an offense with Chip Kelly and everything that he had, so they didn’t really utilize it all that much in a fullback regard.”
(Would it be weird for you to go back to playing in a single-back set more often?) – “It would be, just because I feel like with the fullbacks right now with the game that we have and the offense that we have, they’re our eyes. That’s something that we use in the room. They’re the ones that see the hole before the hole opens up, and they’re the ones who have to hit those holes in order for us to hit them as well. They always say, ‘Let the fullback’s eyes be your eyes,’ and I truly believe in that.”
(At times last year, you guys had problems getting the play from the coaches to the huddle. T Terron Armstead was saying after the last game that that was going to be a focal point of the offseason. How is that process going? Can you work on it outside of game situations? If the ones don’t play much in preseason, will you be confident in that process going into the regular season?) – “Yeah, the play call definitely is something that has been an emphasis here in regard to timing. If you look at how we operate in the ones at least, we have a play clock down at the end zone and Tua does a great job receiving the play and then giving it out by at least 20 seconds, 15 is the cutoff. So I mean, he still has some wiggle room to get those calls in and also have the coach tell him, ‘Hey, look. This is the play that you need, this is the receiver that you’ve got to look for in this coverage,’ and then once it cuts off, it cuts off. But the timing aspect is definitely something we emphasized this offseason going into OTAs and now in training camp we’re utilizing and trying to understand.”
(In the run game, have you seen development in any blocking from OL Liam Eichenberg and T Austin Jackson?) – “Yeah, absolutely. When those two guys – I know they were down last year for some injury, but they’re getting their footing right. They’re trying to do their best, you can definitely tell what has been transpiring in regards to them. So it’s been nice to see.”
(I heard you mention the rookie. How has RB De’Von Achane looked so far?) – “De’Von, he’s a great learner. He’s absorbing all the information that he possibly can and he’s doing a good job. We’re still trying to utilize him, get that little burst here and there. Today was actually a good day for him. He came out and definitely showed a little bit of that versatility and that burst. So myself and the rest of the group were definitely pleased with that. That’s something that you want to emphasize is speed. I know he’s not necessarily the biggest and I was telling him, ‘Hey, look. You’ve got to use your aggression in order to promote that speed.’ That’s something that I utilize just because I know I’m not the biggest in the huddle or on the field at times. I just try to use my aggression and that will carry over into my speed, and I was trying to emphasize that with him.”
(You were jamming out to the first song or two of WR Jaylen Waddle’s playlist today. Your full review of his playlist?) – “His playlist had me right for a practice. (laughter) I know that I set the standard a little bit with my playlist, but he definitely did his part. Nobody can top me as of right now, I’m just saying. I’m just saying.”
(It’s the versatility.) – “Yeah, I had a lot of diversity in that playlist, a lot of versatility. (laughter)”
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(The new offensive line coach, Butch Barry – what have you noticed, learned, observed in regards to his method of teaching and motivating?) – “He knows how to protect himself from the sun, first and foremost. You can find him by hat. He sweats a lot. I had a previous relationship with him, working relationship, and when you do have that, there are certain expectations that you have when you’re joined back together, and he’s met those expectations because of his diligent command of that crew. I think they’ve got a really cool thing going there where they’ve been working and owning techniques that really, it’s probably the best they’ve been able to understand what we’re trying to do as an offense. The thing about o-line coaches, if you have a good one, which I think we do have, they’re typically not satisfied. They’re typically ready to get a sucker punch from the side that they can’t see just because the nature of offensive line in general; you’re out-athleted because the best pound-for-pound athletes really are defensive linemen in this game, so you have to be on your p’s and q’s. You can’t be result-based. You have to be process-driven. And he’s really done a great job, but classic o-line coach for him; don’t ask him what type of job he’s doing because he’ll grumble and (be like) ‘we need to be better today.’ Which is what ultimately I think players really yearn for.”
(What have you seen from OL Liam Eichenberg so far and what have you wanted to see from him at this stage?) – “So Year 2 is very exciting for multiple reasons. Like what we do from an offensive line standpoint, there’s some trust fall involved, where you’re like, ‘Okay, we don’t want you to just block this person safely. We want you to aggressively attack, thereby making you vulnerable.’ That can – ebbs and flows. We felt it last year, the players know it, that sometimes, when in the heat of battle, you revert back to things that we don’t emphasize. Well, that doesn’t mean those things were bad; it means now you’re off with your teammate who’s trying to do it – it’s the synergy of it. And he’s really, really taken a step forward that way. Year 2, since you do know what words mean, what play calls mean, how we communicate, how we target, aiming points, timing. Since he does know that, he’s been able to do some things we were unable to do in Year 1 that I was adamant that we didn’t do in Year 1 which is move him around a little bit, too. I really love where he is at in the progression, but again, it is a progression that’s long, because like I was alluding to before, we’re trying to do stuff at a high level that you have to really kind of empty all of the old thinking and can’t revert in the heat of battle. That’s where our biggest problems came were people reverting, and he’s right now doing a great job. But what’s going to happen when the d-line is turned up today? Okay, then what’s going to happen next week when you have different people? Those are the things that are monumental for him, as well as all the guys that have been here to really make sure that what we’re doing on a day-to-day basis is ingrained and not just a practice technique.”
(OL Austin Jackson – same question) – “Austin being – he was out longer. I got to see less of him and it’s been exciting. Exciting for him because what he hasn’t done, what you’re fearful of – case in point, I know there are several guys that are very locked into one-on-one pass rush. And what happens to young offensive linemen especially when they are in an important year of their career, is you go and set on somebody and it doesn’t work. It actually is quite the opposite. You get up and under or do something like that. Typically, the response is, ‘Okay, I’m not doing that again.’ And where he’s at is he can turn and have a football conversation with myself, Frank (Smith), Butch (Barry), ‘Lem’ (Lemuel Jeanpierre), or Mike Judge. He can have a football conversation of what just happened, so that he can do the technique he just did better. He’s flashed some really good things and then there’s been great teaching done by the defense when he hasn’t done things correctly. So he continues to get better. He’s a better player than he was last week. And that’s where I’m at with really all those guys. We have a lot of competition across the board in the offensive line room, so everyone’s having to really go after it, which is a cool thing as a coach to witness and right now we are in Practice 7. And we have three opportunities to practice against each other before we practice against an opponent. So that’s what we’re focused on today for him.”
(I don’t think there are many people who have had a better camp than DT Christian Wilkins. Every day he seems like he splashes. The fact that he’s putting on this kind of performance in a contract year – what does it say about him that he’s out there, some of his peers are holding out, he’s out there playing his butt off?) – “No, it’s classic Christian. He goes about his daily business and gets satisfaction on earned things. He doesn’t – that’s not in him. I think his teammates appreciate that they know that when he comes to work, they’re going to get his energy and we’ve learned to count on that.”
(I wanted to address something, bring up old stuff that happened a week ago, but I just really want your thought process. In Thursday’s practice, there was a heavy blitz practice from Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio. Does Vic have those conversations with you before the practice or does he like, “surprise”?) – “That can happen organically in like a non-scripted period, depending on what the emphasis of that day is. When it comes to periods like that, that’s pre-planned so that guys can have a legitimate – so coaches can prepare guys, just in general about – and it’s said on the practice phase, so that period you’re speaking of was a pressure period. That allows for us to work on the stuff that gives us issues with pressure, as opposed to just throwing plays out there so that both sides can be challenged appropriately. That way, it’s just like calling it a game – what are you going to call when you’re expecting pressure? Or what is not going to get called because you’re fearful of the result of pressure? Those two things get planned into it, which is why you have a period of it. It’s so that you can really get better on both sides and you kind of know what’s coming.”
(Saturday scrimmage – what will you be looking for from QB Tua Tagovailoa in particular outside of the ordinary?) – “Really in a scrimmage setting, you get to change the atmosphere. There’s extra people in the stands. You just get to ramp up in the progression and in those moments you want to see someone live in what they’ve been working on. Any time by happenstance, a situation comes up that – which almost every day in practice it does – where this is similar to a situation we’ve had before. The coaching development and scrimmage game is a wonderful opportunity to see where guys are at and to coach because if anything changes or deviates from the plan or what has been talked about, you can bring it up. And then if it doesn’t, that’s empowering. It’s solidified. So just any little detail that you can kind of change things up. I think there’s valuable coaching things to see and that’s what I want to see from him and a lot of other guys that way, too.”
(All that muscle QB Tua Tagovailoa has put on, how do you think that might help him and will you look for any of that on Saturday?) – “Arm wrestling competitions. He’s less prone to defeat. There are unintended consequences. He really took his training on his body serious this offseason for a multitude of reasons and I’ve seen various things, where he has a little more short-area explosiveness, where you’re able to manipulate yourself in the pocket at a more explosive rate. I don’t know this to be facts, but it appears by my layman’s eye that he has more pitches in his arsenal, like he can layer stuff and drive it just with even more command than he’s already pretty adept at, considering his accuracy. So I think it just overall helps him feel prepared and execute a lot of things and the residuals are apparent and various.”
(I wanted to ask about the QB competition with QB Mike White and QB Skylar Thompson. Just from your experience, are you looking for anything from those two guys or the backups in particular than you would maybe a starting competition because they can change or do you all kind of just view…?) – “It’s an interesting question because what’s unique about the quarterback position is there’s so much stuff going on. You touch the ball every play and if you’re off, it fails. So one thing with guys at the quarterback position competing, is I find you have to be even more resistant to making assumptions, determinations. You have to let it play out longer because so many – all of a sudden things can click and your game changes a lot. There’s a lot of things that they’ve been coached in the past and having an idea of what exactly we’re trying to get done. Sometimes you don’t know why someone’s not completing something and then all of a sudden, it becomes second nature and they’ll do it three times in a row. And you’ll ask them why and it was because they were thinking about it in an inverse way. Very, very common. So you kind of have to be a little more patient with the process and let it all play out at that position because as soon as you predetermine one thing, the next day, some guy will light it up.”
(General Manager Chris Grier went on the radio the other day and talked about the idea of bringing in CB Eli Apple and talking to WR Tyreek Hill ahead of time and chemistry and building a roster. I know fans often think it’s a Madden type of situation where you plug guys in, but I wanted to hear your perspective on the idea of building the right type of roster and making sure chemistry is right.) – “I have fallen victim of it as well in my life. It’s one of the things I think is valuable of remembering all those moments as a fan and remembering all those moments when I was a college player before I got into coaching, that these are a collection of human beings that have all the ills and all the strengths of all of us. So when you – and ultimately, players end up shaping what your team looks like. The players are the culture. And when you are when you’re adjusting something that is so significant to their lives, which is the locker room, you treat it like human beings in every sense and how that’s going to affect other human beings. We think a lot about the residual effects of A, in the whole development of the team because we’re recognizing that these are human beings, individuals that are all affected by things as well. So I think it’s important to remember that human scope in the whole process.”
(What factors go into the selection of the orange jersey recipient or is it strictly about practice performance?) – “It is about practice performance that day. There are underlying things. As a team, you’re writing your own story each and every day and within that story, there are things that go on all the time that the team is very privy to and when someone is able to make certain plays based upon coaching or based upon, hey maybe they messed something up earlier, that factors in as well. But it is solely about somebody that epitomizes what we are trying to do that day. So the jersey is really a reflection of what our team wants and that person’s effort that day. It doesn’t mean that they were perfect or they had the statistically greatest day ever. It’s about doing their job that day and how it affects the team and also you get to be the DJ. And the one thing that all the players know is we don’t have any time for people – their opinions really about your DJ set list – because if they don’t like the music, then just be the orange jersey winner. Flat out. So as much as it behooves me, there are some musical selections that I am not super excited about, but if I want to do something about it, I better win the orange jersey today.”
