Friday, December 6, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(You’ve handled everything great this year. Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith was asked yesterday about you not being in on the goal line in that late play. Did that bother you at all? What’s your reaction when you’re not in the game during a critical moment on offense like that?) – “As a teammate, you understand personnel and certain things that coaches are looking for, but as an individual, as a competitor, it sucks because at the end of the day if we don’t score there, I’m going to feel some kind of way. But my mindset and the growth that I’ve had in my career throughout the years is that I’m a teammate now where I’m in a better space and I understand what the coaches are exactly trying to do, so it is what it is. We all have to learn from it as a group, not just the coaches but also as players and we’ve just got to take our wins and losses.”
(Is that something you would discuss Head Coach Mike McDaniel or Pass Game Specialist/Wide Receivers Wes Welker or did you decide not to?) – “No, no, ain’t no bad blood in that. I’m in great spirits regardless of whatever is going on, but at the end of the day, I did have a conversation with Coach (McDaniel). It kind of helped me understand their point of view and exactly what they’re trying to do, so I understand it. Everything is about scheme. These guys do this certain coverage in this area, these guys – we’re looking for this type of scenario in this situation. So just in that scenario, I wasn’t a part of it so it is what it is.”
(When you put that in perspective, how much has WR Tyreek Hill grown now? Because a younger Tyreek probably wouldn’t have sort of receptive to that?) – “I would’ve been hot. I would’ve been cussing somebody out on the sideline. I would’ve been probably on Twitter talking trash like saying, ‘Get me out of here,’ ‘Do this, X, Y, Z, man.’ But I just feel like right now, man, I’ve got to be a great example for the young guys in this locker room, so I feel like if I’m very outspoken, if I’m being a diva about not getting the ball, about not being in the game, those guys are going to be a reflection of who I am because those guys are going to be like, ‘Oh, if 10 can do it, we can do it, too.’ So I really don’t want to bring that kind of negative attention inside of our locker room because the season isn’t going the way that we all planned, so why add even more drama to it?”
(In recent years, have you usually been on the field in those situations inside the opponents five-yard line?) – “Trick question. (laughter)”
(I can do the research. I’ll do the research.) – “Yeah, yeah, I have. Great question. Yes, I have, but I just feel like teams change, coaches change, so schemes change. We all know how it goes. It’s all about trying to get a competitive advantage at the end of the day. Coach (McDaniel) felt like if we went with a heavier personnel, those guys would go all backers or something like that and he’ll be able to throw it like a quick pass to whoever. To me, when I went back and looked at it, I thought it was a great idea. We just had some guys kind of get caught in trash, which is nobody’s fault, so at the end of the day, we’ve just got to be better as a unit. Whoever’s out there on the field, you’ve got to trust and believe those guys are going to make the play so that’s what it all unfolds.”
(Has your wrist felt about the same in the last couple of weeks?) – “Yes, sir, it has. I’ve been doing whatever I can to rest it, to recover it the best way I can. The training staff here, those guys have been doing a great job of allowing me to take days whenever I need it to give me a break from catching, give me a break from blocking. So everything’s been great, man.”
(You’ve been a great sport about lack of deep balls. When a game goes by where you don’t get any of those deep targets, does it bother you at this stage of your career? Do you feel like it’s a part of the offense that needs to be more prominently displayed in the offense?) – “Not really, man, because if you really look at the defenses that we’ve played against, guys aren’t really allowing a deep shot to the Miami Dolphins. Defenses are truly falling in love with playing Cover 2 defense against us. They don’t care about nothing else, don’t care about the run game, don’t care about nothing else. They just want to stop ‘10’ (Tyreek Hill) and ’17’ (Jaylen Waddle) from (references SportsCenter Top 10 music). So at the end of the day, you’ve just got to be a teammate. You’ve got to do whatever the team needs you to do in that moment. If that requires you to block 30 times a game, it requires you to block. If it requires you to run through the middle and open other guys up, then that’s what it takes, because eventually it’s all going to turn soon. We play 17 games for a reason and I feel like if we continue to have the success that we’ve been having which Tua (Tagovailoa) has been playing lights out, defenses are going to change soon and going to be like ‘We’ve got to stop ‘28’ (De’Von Achane), we’ve got to stop ‘31’ (Raheem Mostert), we’ve got to stop Jonnu from catching those quick passes across the middle,’ because those guys are dangerous as well, too.”
(Seems like Jets CB Sauce Gardner’s status is in doubt. What does that do for the Jets defense whether he is able to go or isn’t?) – “Sauce (Gardner) is a great competitor, man. He’s one of the best in the league. He definitely changes the dynamic of how those guys want to play over there, but schematically I think they would try to do some similar things, so I really hope he does play and stays off Twitch.”
(Are you friends with Jets WR Garrett Wilson or Jets WR Davante Adams by chance?) – “No, I’m not friends with either one of those guys.”
Friday, December 6, 2024
CB Jalen Ramsey
(On facing WR Garrett Wilson and WR Davante Adams) – “It’ll be a matchup. I’m sure I’ll guard him (Garrett Wilson), I’m sure I’ll guard ‘Tae’ (Davante Adams). Same old, same old.”
(Last time, you took sort of a greater role in shadowing Garrett Wilson for that game, but do you think now that WR Davante Adams is in the mix there’ll be more mixing and matching?) – “We’ll see.”
(What’s unique about WR Davante Adams’ skill set?) – “He has good releases, has good connection with his quarterback, has good routes. Yeah, been a top receiver in the league for a number of years.”
(How about WR Garrett Wilson? Same question.) – “Same, kind of – they’re different a little bit. Just different style, Garrett is a young guy coming into his own, still even. Getting that chemistry with A-Rod (Aaron Rodgers) this year, obviously. But they’re both the guys of their offense, getting those targets.”
(What do you think of facing QB Aaron Rodgers? Because he wasn’t around when you guys met up with them last year, two times.) – “Yeah, he can make all the throws, has good ball placement, has good chemistry with his guys, is obviously the leader of their whole organization, I guess you could say, so yeah.”
(I’m sure it will be good to have CB Kendall Fuller back, assuming he clears today. What have you appreciated about him as a teammate, learned about him this year being a teammate of him?) – “I’ve known Kendall (Fuller) for a long time. Me and Kendall knew each other in high school, we were like 16 or something like that. So it’s always been a lot of love and respect there. Then him being my teammate, obviously, we’ve both been in the league the same amount of years. He has a lot of knowledge as well. We try to help each other, help the young guys out. I feel like we play off each other pretty well in certain things that we do.”
(What would it feel like to have – if CB Kendall Fuller was able to play and then CB Kader Kohou coming back, to have that tandem all together when it seemed like last game it was just every cornerback that was going in was dropping?) – “I mean that’s football in general; injuries happen and you’ve got to adjust and other guys go in there. But it’s always good to have all your main guys in there together, being able to flow and try to go make some plays with the team.”
(If you could think about the big picture for a second, the first 12 games of this season. How would you describe the first 12 games?) – “NFL – lots of ups and downs. A lot of adversity that we had to overcome. Overcame it sometimes, sometimes we didn’t. Yeah, that’s about it.”
(What’s been the biggest surprise?) – “Our record.”
(You mentioned ups and downs, what’s the most important thing this team needs to do to finish on an up?) – “Keep working – that’s it, it’s simple. It’s not a secret formula. Got to keep working, got to be very intentional. Focus on details, all the little things. At the end of the day, just got to keep going, our mindset, have to believe really and keep going. Because yeah, it’s the NFL; everything is not going to go your way a lot of times, but you’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to overcome things and you’ve got to push through a lot of things. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to truly believe that you’re going to be able to do all of that.”
Friday, December 6, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Three defenders – is CB Kendall Fuller out of concussion protocol? How’s it looking for CB Kader Kohou and LB Anthony Walker Jr.?) – “(Kendall) Fuller first – Fuller, he is appropriately within it, hoping that practice and then the part of the process after practice, hopeful that he’ll be through it this afternoon, so we’ll wait and see on that. Then Kader (Kohou) and Anthony Walker will both – I’m optimistic about both but I say ‘optimism’ and ‘pessimism’ when I’m trying to be clear that’s assuming that there’s no setbacks and how they feel after. But it’s been positive for them this week and we’ll see what that lends.”
(How about your two tackles, T Terron Armstead and T Kendall Lamm?) – “They love football and they find different ways to prove it. I think I’ve felt good about Terron (Armstead) in much more physically dire situations. I think that being said, we’ll make sure that he’s feeling good and I’m not going to put him out there if he’s not capable, but I feel optimistic about it, whatever that means. And then Kendall Lamm had a very good week in terms of getting his body right. I feel optimistic about him, too, but in the process, we’ve also been able to get some guys some reps, much needed reps in case my optimism is in vain and one or both can’t go.”
(LB Bradley Chubb?) – “Bradley Chubb. Him – we’ll call them the ‘window dudes.’ The window dudes – we had three of them this week – and you want to talk about needing all three days. It’s one thing if you’re in-season, you’ve played football during the season and whatever. We’re talking about just today being a third of the evaluation process, so going into it, Chris (Grier) and I had been very firm with ourselves and disciplined to, all right, let’s let Friday go through. Let’s talk to the players and then we’ll have concrete discussions on what that means, but I think it is a lot to expect. I think you don’t expect any one of those three guys to be able to play; however you leave it open because again, you let the process play out with a third of that process left and then we’ll assess from there.”
(This year against the Jets you won’t get to see your old coaching mate, Robert Saleh. What did you think of how that all went down?) – “I get to see – I coached with Jeff Ulbrich as well. Did you know that? In Atlanta. I’m old. I have so many of my own problems for me to weigh in on anything that’s outside Dolphins. I think it’s kind of worthless because it’s not very educated; I guess I’m assuming that everybody else is having a glorious sunny day all the time, so I don’t really have much to say other than that. I want to beat the Jets regardless of whatever coach is coaching there, and I think our team does as well.”
(Just a little housekeeping, a word we like to use, the LB Tyus Bowser and CB Cam Smith injuries. Were they season-ending or if you need them back could they play again this year?) – “At the beginning of December it is always tricky; however, it’s up in question because it’s around that time – basically will you do the follow-up question, ‘Will they be ready for training camp?’ I think they’ll be ready for training camp. (laughter) But whether or not they’re back in the season, we’re leaving that up open to their bodies.”
(With RB Raheem Mostert has the hip impacted how many carries you and Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Eric Studesville have given him? I think it’s been 10 these last four weeks. Has that been a factor at all with him?) – “I think there’s a lot of factors at hand. I think he’s been an unbelievable teammate in the process. He’s had a couple things pop up that it wouldn’t be fair to his body to over-press him. I think it’s important to me that with a very talented backfield that everyone gets opportunities; sometimes they come in waves. I think again – I’ve said it before – but there’s a lot less to do with Raheem’s not doing something or can’t and much more to do with multiple talented players that are taking advantage of opportunities as well. I wouldn’t ever – specifically with Raheem Mostert on this team – I wouldn’t ever put him in a box in terms of ‘this is what his contribution will look like always’ and I know he can help us win this season. So when and what that looks like, there will be a lot of factors that I can’t give up the game plan.”
(One matchup for Sunday – LB Chop Robinson for the first time will go against his former college teammate Olu Fashanu. What do you think of how Chop is progressing now going into that matchup?) – “That will be a cool. That’s a cool situation that you just bring light to in terms of you have guys that are used to practicing against each other and then the National Football League demands a lot of different adjustments in technique and play. So any time you get rookie college teammates going against each other, it’s easy to assume you know exactly how the other person plays and then you get to the game and see how the NFL season has adjusted their game and where that puts them matchup-wise. I think it’s a competitive situation with two talented players that should be a fun matchup within the matchups for this game.”
(What do you think of the Jets pass rush?) – “It’s ever-present. Like I said, I have a high regard for Coach (Jeff) Ulbrich, worked with him, and same as Coach (Aaron) Whitecotton; in San Francisco, I worked with him as well. They do an unbelievable job of getting guys to fully commit to a relentless approach at pass rush. So they present two problems – early in the down and late in the down. Their get off is as good as it gets in terms of coming off the ball and utilizing their technique. And then the one thing that is pervasive is they make a lot of plays in the run and pass game, but as pass rushers, they make a lot of plays late in the down as well and those are generally the most impactful in games because that’s where turnovers, whether that be sack-fumbles or pressure interceptions; this system of defense thrives on it. It’s almost a non-negotiable for that scheme is to have a pass rush that can go, and they are well-equipped to be a dominant phase of football at any given time because that pass rush.”
(Did you see the game last night? Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell fourth and inches call to run out the clock before the game winning field goal?) – “I did not see it, but I’ve heard Detroit has gone for it on fourth down. Were you debating him? Did you think he should do it?”
(A lot of people have.) – “Did it work out?”
(It worked out, yeah. Got the first down.) – “At the end of football games, I think it’s important, at least for me, to understand that the only right answer is the one that works. So in that, you have to stay true to what it takes to win the game, and I regard and respect people that understand that they’re probably going to get some heat if it doesn’t work out. But if you stay connected to the idea of ‘whatever it takes to win the game – you’re always going to get the heat as a head coach or a play caller or a decision maker when it doesn’t work out, so to prioritize that not being your motivation, which it doesn’t seem like it’s Coach (Dan) Campbell’s.”
(We haven’t had a chance to talk to you yet since FB Alec Ingold was nominated as the Dolphins Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. I just wanted to get your perspective on what makes Alec a good candidate for that?) – “Well the Man of the Year; I think Alec Ingold best embodies how to succeed in life and how to take things that on the front end, for sure, he had a lot of adversity interwoven into the way he started in the world. And so adversity is ever-present to everyone, it’s all relative, but one or two things happen. Generally it’s very difficult to take that adversity and make it purposeful and that’s what he has done by taking all of his time, his services and giving back into the community to those that he knows that – in the least, it’s someone that has taken some obstacles and flourished in them. I think he’s a motivating and inspiring person and I’m just so glad that a guy that I didn’t know personally, that came to us in 2022, the more people that can know about Alec Ingold and what he has to offer this world; if we could all take a good measurement as if we could all do like Alec and take perceived adversity and make it the engine that drives your life force into making the world a better place. I mean he fits the bill and on top of that, he’s a captain at a position that you have to earn those stripes with nothing other than daily accountability, effort, mentality, toughness. I can’t say enough good things about the human being, the player and I’m just glad he’s – he needs to be a focal point for what professional athletes are capable of and can do for their community and the sport and leaving the sport better than when he got to it.”
Thursday, December 5, 2024
DT Calais Campbell
(How much do you think this rest is going to help you guys close moving forward to take on a team like the Jets?) – “Hopefully it helps a lot, we’ll see. At this point in time of the season, everybody’s beat up and bruised. It was just mental toughness; who’s the most resilient and who has the most fight inside of them. Even with the extra couple days, it’s still whatever week it is in the season. It’s all heart and ‘want to.’
(How happy are you guys just to be back home?) – “I’m very happy to be back home. Our fan base, they bring a lot of energy on game day and make it a lot more fun when you make plays. When you make a big play and the crowd goes crazy, that’s a special feeling. You never take that for granted, so being home, I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully we make a lot of plays and win this ball game.”
(What did you say to FB Alec Ingold when you found out he was going to be nominated for the second time for the Walter Payton Man of the Year?) – “I haven’t talked to him yet. I haven’t had the chance to talk to him but I’m going to definitely give him his congratulations. I mean he’s such a great guy; a force on the field, a force in the locker room as a leader and obviously he’s doing great stuff for the community and just a guy that I admire a lot.”
(He said he heard you speak when you won the Walter Payton Man of the Year, and he said you were a real inspiration in what he thought he could do as a player in the NFL.) – “Wow. That’s awesome. That’s what you do it for, right? When I won and had to get up there and give a speech, the main motivation was to inspire people to do more. And so to hear that, that’s pretty sweet. That’s what it’s all about.”
(He was a rookie, and he was there for something else, but he was probably obviously, maybe in awe of you or maybe he didn’t want to go up to you. So now that you know, how cool is that?) – “It’s very cool – the fact that he was a rookie is crazy. (laughter) It has been a while though. I’ll say that he’s just a guy that I admire. To have any kind of influence on the next generation of younger people to go out there and do great things in the community, that’s a great honor. Obviously, there’s a lot of people that are in need in this world and for us, we’re extremely fortunate and blessed to be able to play this game. Sometimes, especially when football isn’t going the way you want it to go sometimes, being in the community just puts things in perspective. We still have this incredible job; we still have the ability to impact people and affect lives, so it’s a great feeling and I’m happy for him. I think he’s very worthy of the nomination and I hope he wins it all.”
(Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver talked about the importance of a pass rush on getting home to QB Aaron Rodgers, I’m sure you’ve played against him before. Why is it so important for you guys to be kind of coming after him on Sunday?) – “I feel like every game is important for pass rush, but when you have a quarterback that can make every throw and has done it a thousand times before, you’ve got to try to make him uncomfortable. So you’ve got to get in his face, you’ve got to get him off the spot, you have to get him just kind in positions he doesn’t want to be in. Now he also makes plays in uncomfortable situations too, so he’s kind of a guy that you have to always worry about. But you give yourself the best chance to win by getting him off his spot, getting to him, get him down, hitting him – that’s always the formula in my mind. I like to have influence and know that we’re the reason why we’re winning ball games and so we have to get to him early and get to him often.”
(I’m curious if you have any thoughts on the College Football Playoff and the University of Miami getting slightly left behind.) – “Yeah, I’ve been having some disagreements with some of my friends that played for other teams, like Alabama. I feel a certain kind of way. I feel a certain kind of way. I think that Miami should be in the playoffs. I think that the team is capable of beating anybody, and we can put up points at the highest level. Obviously, the selection committee has a tough job on their hands because there’s so many teams that feel like they’re worthy, but I don’t see how you could watch Miami every game and think they’re not one of the best 12 teams and have a chance to compete for a national championship, I just don’t see it. It is what it is; you can’t cry over spilled milk. And we should have won those games, but you lose two games against teams that are pretty good teams on the road, last second, they’re close ball games. It’s not like we got dominated like some teams did, we just lost a tough ball game on the road which is turnovers and everything that played a role. Now, I guess people say that we don’t have any big wins, but you can only beat who’s on your schedule. You can’t go and schedule better competition so you can beat better people, you just go beat who’s in front of you. But I think that even the way – I wish Georgia Tech would have beat Georgia. They had it won and then Georgia kid made a heck of a play on that fourth-and-one forcing a fumble – because he got the first down, but he forced the fumble, gave his team a chance to win and found a way to win in eight overtimes and so you have to tip your hat to them. But I think if Georgia Tech wins that ball game, I think they can’t not put Miami in; but it’s just circumstantial football, that’s all it is.”
(What did DT Da’Shawn Hand say about it earlier?) – “I mean (Da’Shawn) Hand, I didn’t actually talk to him directly, but I talked to a lot of other guys that played for Alabama. I’ve been going back and forth – I’m sick. I’m sick to my stomach but it’s football. At the end of the day, control what you can control. If you win your ball games, you don’t got to worry about it. You make it hard on yourself when you lose, but I think that team right there is good enough to win a national championship this year. They’ve come a long way, because it didn’t used to feel that way. So it’s good to be back in that kind of mentality. Maybe they come to light one more week and they fix their mistake, but if not, it’s still cool to see that we have a shot.”
(Has the topic come up with QB Tua Tagovailoa and WR Jaylen Waddle, or only DT Da’Shawn Hand?) – “No, a bunch of guys. I’ve been talking to all the guys that I played with before that played for Alabama. I’ve been pretty much – anybody I know that played at Alabama, I’ve been picking a fight with because I feel like we should be in before them, but it is what it is.”
(What do you think about LB Chop Robinson in this matchup against T Olu Fashanu, his former college teammate?) – “I think that’s very beneficial for us, because he has familiarity with him and that’s one of the biggest things that rookies don’t really have. So it kind of allows him to be more of a vet for this week and hopefully it pays off. Obviously, it goes both ways, because he also is familiar with Chop (Robinson) too from all the time they practiced and stuff. We’ll see how it goes, but I like our chances because Chop is developing to be a pretty good player. He’s getting his confidence, you can see, he’s getting to where he wants to be, so I’m getting excited for him.”
(One last thing on the Miami thing, does three losses for Alabama compared to two for Miami – does wins and losses have to factor in more to this? I know they value the SEC and probably undervalue the ACC, but does just your record have to factor more into the decision?) – “I think so, and I also think the SEC this year is not the same as it’s been in years past. I don’t know if it’s because of the NIL, whatever it is, but the parity across the league, across all conferences has been way different. I’ve seen a lot of SEC teams lose early in the year when they played against teams outside the conference and then go into the conference and dominate. I don’t get it, but it is what it is. But I think the record should matter too. They got three losses and only one of them I think is a ‘good loss’ in theory, if there is a good loss. Once again though, if you win, you don’t have to worry about it, but I do think that they’re overvaluing the SEC this year. I guess when the playoffs come and we see what happens, we’ll see how it goes. I am an avid football fan; I love football, and I think the playoffs is a great addition, going to 12 teams instead of four. Just more football, more games that matter, it’s good for the sport. I’m just happy that we have these conversations, but I do wish Miami was there.”
(What sort of history might you have with QB Aaron Rodgers, good or bad? Any games stand out?) – “Quite a few, quite a few histories with Aaron Rodgers. We used to train together for a while, so I know him personally. He also went to junior college with my brother, so I remember when my brother was in college he was like, ‘Man, we got this guy. He’s an NFL player,’ and I’m like, ‘At Butte Junior College? Come on, man. What?’ Turned out to be Aaron Rodgers, so he probably could be a scout because he knew what he was looking at. (laughter) Then competing against him on the field, I’ve probably played against him, I don’t know how many times, it’s a big handful. I feel like it’s been kind of back and forth, of course, but there’s definitely a couple games that stand out. I did get to him three times one game, so that was kind of nice.”
(I was going to ask you if you sacked him.) – “Yeah, it would be nice to get to him three times again, I don’t know if that’s happening though. I don’t know if I get enough opportunities these days anymore. It would be nice to have an old vintage matchup with an old time great. One of the first old-timers still hanging around, it’s a little easier for a quarterback than it is for a d-lineman, but he is still impressive. He can still make every throw, he’s scrambling around back there, making guys miss, throwing the ball down the field. At moments you see brilliance like it’s still the same guy that it was 10 years ago when we were competing.”
Thursday, December 5, 2024
FB Alec Ingold
(This is your second nomination here. What does this mean to you?) – “I think that Walter Payton’s legacy was always about greatness on and off the field. The way he ran the ball was elegant. It was beautiful. And the work that he’s done, his entire family, the foundation and the legacy that they’ve been able to provide beyond his life has been inspiring to the entire organization, to the entire country. And the impact that’s been able to have just being associated with this award means a lot to me and my family. I take it extremely important. It’s a lot of responsibility and I think it lays a groundwork for work to be done in the community beyond your playing days while you’re doing it, leading by example and being able to set up this next generation for success. So just trying to do right by that award, by that name and by this league and this organization. I feel like all those responsibilities play a role in this recognition and this season of football that we’re in.”
(Last year you had this nomination and you were honored at NFL Honors with the other nominees from the 31 other teams. What did you take from being around those other nominees?) – “It’s a lot of guys doing really cool things and being able to be in a roundtable form with those, to be able to break bread and see all of the work that’s being done; I think it’s extremely inspiring. I think the challenge for the 32 nominees, to truly take this recognition, this moment and to be able to not only lead out in the communities but also the locker room, everything you’re doing, walking with your families; I feel like that group of guys is constantly trying to uplift one another so the past couple times I’ve been able to be a part of those rooms, I always leave it more hungry, more fulfilled, more inspired to do more work because of the environment that’s created around the Super Bowl, around NFL Honors, so I wouldn’t expect anything less this year.”
(Speaking of which you have a new teammate this year who is a former Walter Payton Man of the Year winner across the whole league, so how cool has it been to have DT Calais Campbell here and maybe have some of those conversations?) – “It’s a full circle moment for me being in the leadership council with Calais and working with him day in and day out. I don’t think I’ve ever told him this, but at the NFL Honors awards in 2019 when he won it, I was there with Josh Jacobs. He had brought me while he was going through the Offensive Rookie of the Year deal, and as a rookie you’re trying to figure out what you want to do in the league, right? You’re trying to figure out, okay, there’s all these activations, the signings, who you’re kind of looking up to. And I was really lost and trying to find what path I wanted to walk down in the NFL, and as soon as Calais gave his speech, I knew in my heart that that’s something that I wanted to do. I wanted to walk down that path and I wanted to embody all the work that he had put in, and it was extremely inspiring seeing him get his standing ovation and the work that he did through his foundation, through his family’s name. So it’s been pretty cool to have that full circle moment, going to work with him every single day, seeing that patch on his jersey and seeing how he walks that walk.”
(What are some of the things that you guys have been able to do with the Ingold Family Foundation that you’re proud of?) – “I think just sharing our story, being advocates for youth that have been adopted like myself, being a voice for those in foster care looking to become adopted. And at the end of the day, just bringing those messages of family into living rooms – whether it’s education, football camps – the events we do are cool, but being able to look somebody in the eye and tell them to call somebody and tell them they love them, right? And feel that connection, feel that vulnerability. The ‘relatableness’ that happens in those environments, it’s everything. It brings purpose to my work on the field, brings purpose to my life at every step that I walk, so being able to be an advocate for those that have been adopted and are looking to be adopted brings great joy in my life.”
(I know that that’s the cause for My Cause My Cleats for you. Tell me about taking advantage of this platform that you’re given as an athlete with My Cause My Cleats?) – “I think the NFL, the Dolphins as a whole, as an organization being able to utilize the platform that we have; they do a great job of allowing us to have these moments, to share our stories, to bring eyes, ears, attention to amazing causes that are happening in our lives because day to day we’re talking X’s and O’s, we’re getting into the nitty gritty of things and all of a sudden you bring kind of that bigger picture into things. I think it kind of reminds everybody just being a better person, doing things right just because that’s the integrity you should be walking with. All those messages I think are extremely important and My Cause My Cleats is a great reminder. Every step that we’re taking, we’re walking with an organization, a community, someone we’ve came from, stories that have been shared. So I think it’s a great opportunity and the Dolphins do a great job allowing us to share our platform and share our voices.”
(Two-part question for you – first, I know you talked a lot on the NBC special about what it would be like to go home, so first question is what was it like for you to go home, play in that stadium? And then additionally to that, I think towards the end of that special you mentioned one of the best parts would be seeing a bunch of people who are from the same place and looking at you and having that moment – has there been any moment since then that someone has come up to you and really shared some sort of affinity for what you talked about there?) – “I think going home was special. I think it’s a very historic place to play a football game, especially Thanksgiving, snow game. I think those are the moments that I’ve dreamed of as a kid being able to be part of. I’m glad it wasn’t my first time, so I was able to lock in at the job at hand and make sure I was doing right by the team and what we needed to do execution-wise. But I think for the family at-large, to be able to just have to drive 15 minutes down the street to go watch the Dolphins play some football was, I think that was really cool for them. It was a special moment for my family to celebrate Thanksgiving that way. And yeah, I think when you go to that special – we talk about the Ingold Family Foundation, all the work that we do serving those kids; I see myself in those kids through core traumas, through tough conversations, whatever environments we’re creating. So being able to be on that field and hoping that some of those kids could see themselves out on the football field, I think was special. Obviously, a lot of outreach through social media, through our website, opportunities to continue this work. And I think that’s the power of this platform and doing right by it, using it. Y’all as the media, you give us so much grace and opportunities to impact beyond what we do on the field, and I think that the more work, the more stories that are being shared from y’all allow for these kids to feel extremely special. And you never know the residual impact. I know we can look at numbers and clicks and you can go through all the analytics of things, but you can’t measure that one kid who gets it. And I think that’s where the power of us working together, this entire organization working together, I think that’s where real magic happens.”
(What do you think when you think about meeting up with the other 31 nominees for the Walter Payton Man of the Year and just kind of sharing your guys’ stories together?) – “I think it’s extremely humbling and you hope that you do right by that opportunity, and like I said earlier, I think it really is a motivating sense of continuing to do good, continuing to do right, walking with that integrity that Walter Payton did in his life and building a network of guys across the league that are wired the same way, have their hearts in the same place. The vehicles can be different, the foundations can be different, the communities can be different; but that intention is the same. So when you’re aligned that way, I think it’s an extremely special place to be a part of.”
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(It had been such a good running team last year and for much of this year – 2.96 yards per carry the last four weeks. Has the quality of the blocking you’re getting, not just from the offensive line but other positions, diminished considerably during those four games?) – “I don’t think it’s diminished considerably; I think that we’re close. We had an explosive run called back. Ball got outside and ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill) lost leverage on the corner and he got called for a holding; otherwise that was going to be an explosive run, and normally what happens is once you get one of those runs going, things get going. That’s where you build the momentum. You get in your groove blocking, and I just think that’s where we’re trying to get back to. It’s just get that groove, that rhythm and what we’re doing; however ultimately for us it’s that how do we maintain efficiency and score points? That’s ultimately what we’re doing. Defense presents different variables that we have to adjust to and as long as that we’re maintain our efficiency and gaining yards to score, that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do.”
(I meant to ask Head Coach Mike McDaniel yesterday and I forgot. That fourth – four-down series against Green Bay early in the fourth quarter, why wasn’t WR Tyreek Hill on the field?) – “We were down inside the tight red zone and once we got in there, we liked our heavier personnel groups trying to invite a defense to run on and we just didn’t execute. We were close on two of the plays and then the last one we just didn’t execute well. I think that’s the thing that when we look at from the game, is that you can’t talk about many different things, however, it’s execution. You change four plays in that game, outcome could be drastically different and that’s what we need to improve on.”
(It looked like WR Malik Washington missed a block there in the first run?) – “Yeah, it was the angle of like the way he thought the safety was going to trigger on the run, he stayed back so it changed his angle. He had to change his angle to get him so it’s like when you think he’s in run-fit safety, you think that he’s going to see the run and trigger so your angle is going to have to be flat at first. He kept backing up and then when the ball bounced, you’re now out-leveraged. So he played it more like it was (inaudible) and he was backing up almost like kind of two-ish, so it just changed his angle and it’s the difference between getting the ball down inside the five and scoring. So it’s a learning lesson, but it’s not the first time it happened. When you’re anticipating the corner’s run fit, then he backs up and you’re just out-leveraged. So if we were in the open field, say we’re on the minus-40, there’s more space to it, but when you get low in that, when you cut into it, that’s where all of a sudden, he has room to catch up to you.”
(But WR Tyreek Hill isn’t a part of the in close package, the red zone package or…?) – “Yeah, he’s in there. It’s just that play, that one, he was out. And then when we got in there, we were going heavier personnel groupings that he just wasn’t in there. It wasn’t anything intentional. It was just the grouping for what we were doing.”
(I wanted to ask you about this week’s practice. Obviously we know T Terron Armstead is on a very low practice, limited snap count for the moment. But now you’ve got T Kendall Lamm with the elbow injury. T Patrick Paul, obviously you need him at left tackle because Terron is not there, but I’d also view him as viable starting option at right tackle. How do you balance that work in terms of if you need him at right tackle to come from that need you have?) – “You balance it through individual periods, scout team. You use all available tools in the practice day to make sure that all the variables are getting done, so you can do one variable and then in scout team you can do another variable and individual, you can do another variable. So I know Butch (Barry) and the guys, they make sure they’re always constantly using all the time available to make sure we’re all the work, plus walkthroughs and stuff like that.”
(You’ve coached that position. How difficult is it for a tackle to from left to right?) – “Not as easy as you think, but at the same time you get used to the versatility unless you – when you’re the starter it’s a little bit less, but ultimately at the end of the day, to play that position, being versatile and being able to do both sides is helpful. I was a left guard for three years and I was at center and tackle before all that, and once you get into a routine of certain things, that was three years, then it was all of a sudden like you go to the other side and it’s kind of like, what do I do over here? So that’s why we were trying to maintain versatility constantly with the guys.”
(With T Patrick Paul, where would you say he is in the evaluation and the assessment? Because he got a starting opportunity earlier in the season and then everybody didn’t have glowing reviews of him. Where is he in that development right now?) – “I think the greatest thing about your rookie year, it’s always the hardest and your expectations; you go out, you get an opp and then you learn, you grow, stick the process. For us right now, we’re seeing really good signs with his development and we’re really excited for his future with us.”
(I wanted to follow up on the question about the four downs opportunity on the Packers goal line. On the fourth down, it was some bad luck where FB Alec Ingold kind of tripped over T Kendall Lamm’s foot that took him out of the play. In your opinion, did QB Tua Tagovailoa maybe have a chance to pull a trigger on TE Durham Smythe or was he covered too tightly on that play?) – “Potentially. It was one where the variable of what we anticipated, they kind of gave us a little bit a different look, but ultimately that whole sequence is something that we really think if we could’ve executed that better could have helped us in the game. So to your guys’ point, when you look at it you can say certain areas, but we look at just a couple drives of final execution; if we could make sure that we improve upon that, that’ll be the thing that’ll help us going forward.”
(Can a short yardage situation – not just that one – but let’s just say fourth-and-1 at midfield, if you want to go for it and you want to keep the ball on the ground, which running back do you most have confidence in to get that yard whether the blocking is there or whether he was the move the pile himself?) – “Which one specifically? ‘Which child is your favorite, Frank?’ (laughter) I think we have confidence in all of our guys. The way we build the packaging, it’s not necessarily, ‘Hey, it’s him over him.’ It’s that we try to go into games and knowing that all right, in certain areas, we want to make sure we’re giving the guys and spreading the adequate reps. So I have confidence in all of our backs to be able to do what we need to do in critical moments like that.”
(Is there any team in your mind, besides Philadelphia, where it doesn’t matter what defensive look you’re getting on third and one, or goal line from the one or two-yard line, “We’re going to run the ball no matter what look you give us,” – does it work, you think well, for anyone against Philly or is it unwise to force your will physically certain defensive looks?) – “I don’t know. Philly does their sneak thing and everyone tried to implement the same thing and they’re really the only ones that have had maintained success with it. I think ultimately, it’s like there’s certain elements of core concepts and principles that you believe that you can execute versus all things, and there’s other plays that you want to use to attack the defense and the variabilities and the structural conflicts that you think you can get. I think it’s a balance of core principles that you believe in that you want to get done, like we want to be able to run strong side outside zone and we want to be able to run complementary runs off of those principles. We want to be able to run play(-action) pass off of the same thing and make sure we distribute the ball. So it’s like there’s principles that start and point the drive out that you’re saying, ‘We need to do this because it’s our core beliefs and convictions,’ so I think that’s your driving force in anything you do and then each week you have your variables for the attack of the opponent.”
(What keeps you up at night about the Jets’ defense? Is it the defensive line? The secondary? What specifically?) – “They have a very good front. There are guys who’ve played together in the same system for a while. They’re very versed at their coverage system. They have played really good defense and they’re extremely disruptive. So I think there’s certain – I mean obviously it’s easy to say their rush because they are very talented, but overall, their defense, they’re a challenge. No opponent in the league is anything that you can ever say, ‘Hey, it’s this.’ It’s going to be an opponent that’s ready to play for us, and I think all areas of their defense, when they work together, is obviously very formidable – that’s why they’ve been an upper-level defense. So I think it’s never one thing, it’s all things because you got to weigh in all of the areas as far as your plan for the game planning.”
(What went into the decision to make QB Tyler Huntley the backup quarterback, or the primary backup this week – or moving forward, I don’t know what the answer to that question is.) – “I just think his overall, the way that – you’d say when he came into the game, if we didn’t have turnovers in the Indy game, we feel like that game could have gone into our favor because of the way we were running the football. A couple little miscues, but ultimately when ‘Snoop’ (Tyler Huntley) was in there, we were operating efficiently. His ability to execute and distribute, we just feel like was a good addition and that’s why we felt like that’s the route we wanted to go.”
(What is the hope for QB Skylar Thompson moving forward?) – “We still have confidence in Skylar (Thompson) and we know it. We just felt like with Snoop (Tyler Huntley) right now, with what he’s able to bring and a certain area of also his mobility, playing outside, extending plays was something that was always good. Especially when your starter has a certain skill set in the pocket and your backup has a different skill set. That’s a challenge on the defense when all of a sudden, your game plan goes towards pocket passer distribution, there’s another who has extending plays and has mobility, having that balance is also because it changes a gameplan for defensive coaches.”
(Overloaded offensive line, this team has short yardage issues. Why isn’t that we haven’t seen a sixth offensive lineman work on the line in those situations yet?) – “For us, it’s we like using our tight ends and we like the versatility that tight ends give us. In my time in New Orleans, we used heavy offensive linemen a bunch, and when I was in Los Angeles we used heavy offensive linemen a bunch. It’s like, ‘OK, what do you do?’ It’s either run or action. A few teams use linemen and do things outside of the conventional norms, so we like the ability of having tight ends with – as we view it – a complete skill set that allow us to do our full offensive output. But it’s on us as coaches to make sure we put them in positions where we run schemes that are complementary to their skill set. Because most times, guys when they bring in the sixth offensive lineman, they all run the same play. They run power, no puller and try to mash it up in there, and we don’t run that stuff. We run outside zone. So it’s like you’re going to put a sixth offensive lineman who’s going to man reach a nine-technique playing in space that’s on the edge, that’s better for a tight end’s skill set, that’s what we try and do.”
(Would you consider using QB Tyler Huntley in short yardage now that he’s active?) – “I mean it’s an option as we go through each week and just what’s the defense and how does it present itself. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, ultimately though, we’re just going to use the guys that are available and what is necessary to make sure that – core principle, maximizing efficiency of our offensive production to score points. So all options are always on the table.”
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(How much was LB Tyus Bowser missed in terms of setting the edge last Thursday? What does LB Mohamed Kamara need to do at this point needs to do to get to play?) – “Tyus (Bowser), whether he was missed, yeah, of course. I think Tyus has a presence out there, he’s just familiar with the scheme and he’s been through a lot of battles, particularly in those situations. But I don’t want to take anything away from ‘Q’ (Quinton) Bell. I thought ‘Q’ Bell went out there and played really well and continues to flourish when he gets opportunities, so excited about him. As far as Mo (Kamara) is concerned, he’s just a very young player who’s still trying to earn trust amongst his teammates and that only comes through consistent, repeated, positive action. When he’s out there, can he make plays, can he be impactful? Yes. As the games become more important, it’s hard to live through some of those potential rookie mistakes that can occur. Again pleased with where he’s trending, but practice is very much different than games against the opposing competition, particularly when you’re vying for playoff spots and things of that nature. As he continues to grow in his technique and fundamentals, his attention to detail and scheme, he’ll earn more reps.”
(Does LB Bradley Chubb look to you like he’s ready to play? I know that’s a decision that you, General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel et cetera will make collectively, but how close does he look to you to being able to help in an NFL game?) – “That’s difficult to say; I’m basing it off like seven full speed reps. I’m really just incredibly happy for the kid. I know the work he’s put forth just to get to this point. I’m sure it’s going to be some time just to gain confidence and get back to where he feels comfortable going out there and playing in an NFL game.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel noted that on film he saw some guys stopping their feet on defense, not running through the tackle. In all your years of experience, do you believe that that could be a result of the cold?) – “No. It’s one of those things where, as a coach, you’re always trying to predict what’s going to happen in the game. Our poor tackling in this showing was certainly one I didn’t see coming. Was it the cold? Who knows. Was it playing on a Thursday? Who knows. It could be a variety of things. You got to give credit to them, right, just in terms of breaking tackles. Josh Jacobs is not an easy guy to bring down. Do we need to be better in our technique and fundamentals and like wrapping up, driving our feet, not diving off the diving board? Absolutely, but I certainly wouldn’t attribute that to the cold. I’ve coached in Houston where we’ve gone to Green Bay and we’ve won, a number of places where it hasn’t been a concern. I certainly wouldn’t put that on the weather.”
(CB Storm Duck, the first quarter, the touchdown pass in front of him and then the RB Josh Jacobs run, he’s there. What about the teaching moments? I’m not criticizing him at all, I know he’s had a good rookie season. Do you put your arm around him? Do you yell at him? Does that depend on how each guy is? What’s your policy on that?) – “No, each one of these experiences for him are new. It was unfortunate in that particular game, the plays that kind of hit us, he was right by and really had a negative impact on those plays. They’re all learning experiences, and you try to make sure he understands why he didn’t have success on those particular plays and coach him through them. That way when those same plays present themselves again, he’ll now make the play with confidence. It does me no good just yelling at a kid, particularly if you don’t know if he’s been in those situations and you as a coach have kind of coached him through it so he can have the success. That’s all we try to do with him. Again, I have so much confidence in that kid. He’s stepped up for us in huge situations and certainly not going to lose confidence in him now.”
(I say QB Aaron Rodgers. You say?) – “Future Hall of Famer. He’s a stud. He’s one of the few guys left in the league that I’ve played with, right? Him and Calais (Campbell) and Marcedes Lewis would be another one. Has all the arm talent in the world, a lot like (Matthew) Stafford where there isn’t anything he hasn’t seen. A lot of times, if you’re not great with your disguise on what you’re showing pre-snap, he’s going to figure it out. You’re going to try to do everything you can to try to affect him with your rush, because that’s probably the one thing that he can’t really control. I’m going to put a lot of onus on the guys up front to have a good game, and when we do bring pressure, it’ll be calculated.”
(Did you sack Aaron Rodgers?) – “I did not. I did miss a sack on him, I do remember that.”
(What happened? Did you stop your feet?) – “It was really cold. (Laughter) I’m kidding, that is a joke. He was just faster than me. I was rushing off the edge, he bailed and kind of gave ground and ran around me and I lost the edge. Yeah man, heck of a player. He has weapons too, so we are certainly cognizant of those guys.”
(When you have a player like S Jevón Holland, obviously there were a lot of expectations for him coming into his career because of his talent level, how would you assess how he’s played? Do you feel like injuries and setbacks have impacted how he’s played this season and what you’ve asked him to do?) – “Yeah, I think just kind of being in and out of the lineup has certainly affected some of that. It’s unfortunate the stats haven’t been there for Jevón (Holland). When he’s on the field, you certainly feel his impact even though it may not show up necessarily on the stat sheet. I think the games he’s missed, you can feel it. Particularly on our side of the ball on some of those plays where you thought if he would’ve been there, those plays would have been made. I love Jevón, I think he’s a heck of a player. Those stats to me, they’ll come. They’ll come with the snaps.”
(Green Bay scores 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half. There were a lot of missed tackles in that series. What happened?) – “We were essentially in red two. They were in a three by one set, they motioned to it. Jordyn Brooks was kind of standing on the line, he can be in more relation to two there and then Storm (Duck) took a chance and went inside to try to make the tackle, missed it and ends up capturing the edge. Storm, again, another young player, needs to set the edge there, we’ll chase that thing from inside out and we’ll get him down on the ground – hopefully stop them from a first down, definitely shouldn’t score a touchdown. Prior to half, what really contributed to those three points was Jalen Ramsey, he missed a tackle on the tight end, I believe, on the sideline which kind of extended the drive and put them in more of a manageable field goal situation. Again, it was tackling in both of those cases, unfortunate. Don’t know why it happened, but that game – sometimes the ball just needs to bounce your way a little bit. We were about two feet away from having four takeaways. Third play of the game with (Zach) Sieler on the sack, how close was that to being a takeaway and a huge play in the game? Kader Kohou, the play he gets hurt on, the ball is in the air forever, very close to a takeaway. Jalen Ramsey on a corner blitz tips the ball, close to a takeaway, and then obviously a lateral that we all thought was a lateral where Siran (Neil) picks up and goes for a tug. The missed tackle, they stink, definitely didn’t see that happening. Don’t anticipate that happening again, hoping that was a lesson so when we play cold games and hopefully they are meaningful ones in the end, we have no excuse. We’ve been there, we know what we need to do. But sometimes the football gods just aren’t shining upon you man. The guys played hard and I think that showed the second half. They didn’t stop trying to score points in the second half. If they could’ve scored 50, they would’ve scored 50 – they scored six. Did we miss a couple tackles in the second half too? They had a checkdown go for like 40 something yards to the running back. Yeah, it stinks but there are play of opportunities there to be made, and unfortunately in this particular game, we just didn’t make them.”
(CB Siran Neal’s play, is that one that you guys submit to the league and see what they say?) – “I don’t know who submits what to the league. What, do you get an apology letter like – if it happens enough times, I’m still going to lose my job. (laughter) They don’t care, like ‘Hey, sorry we messed up.’ Great, is this official going to stand in front of you guys and do this? I don’t think so. (laughter) God bless them, they have a difficult job. But again, I think sometimes the football gods got to shine upon you man. You’ve got to make those things happen.”
(How tough was that to stomach?) – “I’ve been in this league a long time, man. I’ve had some – that AFC Championship loss last year stings a lot more than this one. Again, I think there’s lessons to be learned in this game that hopefully pay dividends in those two games that ultimately will be cold in Cleveland and New York at the end of the season.”
(LB Jordyn Brooks is an aggressive, physical player. He had a few aggressive, physical plays. After the game, he kind of opened some eyes when he said he thought that the overall defensive performance was soft. You’ve heard the comment, what was your reaction to it?) – “I think that’s Jordyn (Brooks) – it’s one of those things when you’re talking after the game, you’re reacting purely off emotion. I’m sure that once he watched the tape, I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his tune, because that game, the missed tackles you could say they kind of equate to softness in the moment, but when you see why they occurred, you would see that softness had nothing to do with it. I give credit to the Green Bay Packers for just making plays and making us miss.”
(Talking about the bad luck, I can think back to the Buffalo loss, you guys had a tipped pass on that last drive that could’ve been picked off as well. The Cardinals game when Kyler Murray had his arm going forward, Calais Campbell swats it back and bounces right back to him like a basketball. My question is how much do you harp on that or what is the teaching point when you have defensive meetings? Are you showing guys that being like we have to keep coming because this could happen or do you not focus on that?) – “I think the first thing you do is you make sure you’re hopping on every loose ball regardless of whether you know what happened – that was case in point with Siran (Neal). The other thing you’re just trying to coach is where is that tenth of a second, can that be gained? Is that better timing on a blitz, is that not being in your stance ready to play? Now rather than just being there and getting there for the tip and him just having control of the ball, now you’re being there a second early and that ball is out. It’s always those little intricate details that you’re trying to coach guys through that takes them from good to great.”
(Obviously you have a talent in CB Jalen Ramsey who is comfortable, efficient and familiar with shadowing a player. From a defensive coordinator’s standpoint, I want to know the cons to having a player shadow a guy?) – “I think the stress isn’t on Jalen (Ramsey) so much as it puts pressure on everybody around them to know their jobs. When you can play somebody into the boundary or at a particular position, then everybody else, they kind of fall into place and just know they’ve got to learn that one particular spot. Once you start moving guys around, there’s a trickle down with everybody around them. To me, that’s where the weight is. The weight is on the other guys to kind of, ‘Hey, this guy is sitting at No. 2 in the slot, now I’m this. This guy is No. 1 to the boundary, now I’m this.’ It’s all the pieces around them that have to know how they fit together based on where that guy is now.”
(So I’m guessing CB Jalen Ramsey isn’t shadowing anyone on Sunday?) – “We’ll find out. We’ll find out on Sunday.”
(When CB Jalen Ramsey is in the nickel, obviously I’ve heard the theory that you always want your best players closer to the ball and the line of the scrimmage, especially somebody as physical as him. What are the pros and cons to him being in there at the nickel spot?) – “I think the pros are just what you said, he’s around the ball, he’s around the action. You can feel his presence more in both his physicality in the run game, I’ve seen the guy set edges on tackles where a lot of nickels aren’t capable of doing that, and then obviously you can blitz him. You have a little bit more blitz flexibility when he’s there. The negatives to that are your potential matchups on the outside, if you don’t have a player that you feel confident in, particularly if there’s a size deficiency or things of that nature, and then sometimes, his skill set isn’t necessarily perfect for some of those jitterbug guys that you have at the slot position. He’s kind of straight line, fast, has good change of direction, but you get some of those guys like the Wes Welker types back in the day from a matchup standpoint, just doesn’t work in your favor. So you kind of pick your spots based on opponent, based on what we’re trying to do that week schematically. The beauty when Kader (Kohou) is out there is you really don’t know when we’re going to pop it out on you from an offensive perspective. When you have to substitute it, as soon as you trot a guy in, they’re going, ‘Hey, 5 is going to nickel,’ and you lose that element of surprise.”
(How do you like to explain to players how to handle the opposing quarterback going into a slide, possibly going into a slide, might be stepping out of bounds, might not? It seems real delicate, how do you go about that?) – “That is incredibly difficult, and you’re obviously referencing the kid in Houston situation. I think throughout the week, you always watch what’s in this quarterback’s DNA, what’s he done in the past. Really, Trevor Lawrence in the past, he’s been a guy that wasn’t sliding a whole lot. He was going to try to run through you, he’s a big dude, so I could understand why something like that could occur. You would hope that – again, the onus is on the defensive guy and rightfully so. Those guys are protected for a reason and I get it. You just hope that if you see a guy going in that slide position, you have to pull up. You don’t have a choice, and I know that’s a difficult thing but it’s no different than the Poyer hit in the Buffalo game. That is such a bang-bang play, and for him to hit somebody, even when you say in the strike zone and not make contact with the helmet, it’s so much easier said than done. It’s terrible for both parties, for all parties involved. As a defensive guy, again, I err on the side the aggression, but if you see that, you have to try and pull up.”
(You mentioned the slide thing, and I can understand how that’s a difficult play, but I always wonder about the sideline plays too. Especially you see Patrick Mahomes always doing this, and that was the Gardner Minshew and Jevón Holland.) – “Yeah, you’ve seen it with (Gardner) Minshew and Jevón Holland. You’ve seen it with (Patrick) Mahomes where he looks like he’s going to go out and then he turns it up for another six or seven yards. Again, we’re going to try to hit you and if that’s what you’ve shown on tape, don’t be surprised if you get hit late.”
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(If you could take us through, on the first punt, what WR Malik Washington should have done?) – “In a perfect world, he recognizes the spin, plays the drift and catches the football with a fair catch. In the scenario that transpired, once you lose the rhythm of the ball, don’t make a bad play worse. So in that case he should have aborted and got out of the way.”
(There was another play, this was the second time I think in three weeks or four weeks, where WR Malik Washington fielded a punt at the five-yard line, and in both instances there was a penalty on the return where the team was backed up to start on offense. Do you have a set rule as you’re inside the 10, leave it alone or do you leave it up to their discretion?) – “There’s several different guidelines we use and it’s based on a lot of things. It’s based on where the ball is being punted from, what’s the space, what’s the call, are we in a single, are we in double, what are we playing on the gunners in terms of them getting down the field, so there’s a lot of things that go into that. We have great confidence in Malik (Washington), but those are some of the – like every position across the board, there’s growing pains with young players and that’s part of it. We got to minimize them, but that’s part of the National Football League and young players. But we have complete confidence, and we’ll keep working and keep practicing and hopefully those things turn the other way.”
(Am I safe in assuming in a perfect world you’d rather he not field a punt at the five-yard line?) – “Absolutely not, that’s not what I’m saying. It depends on the situation. There’s times that that’s a good play. There’s times that that’s maybe not the right play. So there’s a lot of things that go into it situationally in the game.”
(He seemed to slip on that and a lot of guys – I mean the field was what it was. Was there cleat issues?) – “Well most of our guys were wearing seven studs and didn’t have a lot of issue. You could see going into the game and historically there, that’s always been a little bit of an issue. Whether it’s the late day dew games or the night games when it’s colder with the surface being heated from underneath. Again, that’s part of it and understanding don’t make a bad play worse, to put it in the simplest terms. And that’s, regardless of position, one of the things we try and echo.”
(What is the skill with WR Malik Washington that makes you think he can be a good punt returner long term?) – “When a young player comes in who doesn’t have a lot of history, that’s an opportunity to help make the football team, and a lot of guys that have the skill set of a returner or a defensive back, who have good ball skills, who understand reading a football in the air and adjusting to it, have an opportunity. Now it’s going to be different when you have bodies involved and people run at you, but he’s done a great job on developing from when we got him in the draft and like I said, we’re so happy to have him. We just got to eliminate some of the issues on this climb to what we feel is a very good player.”
(One more thing about WR Malik Washington. He’s a very tough kid, isn’t he? He took a big hit that game. I thought I saw him knock down LB Lukas Van Ness, No. 90 from the slot, right?) – “He’s a lot of the things that we’re looking for. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s physical. He’s a good football player, but as I said, we’ve got eliminate some of the small things with young players. Again, that’s part of it. You hate to say it and you hate to live with it, but there’s a long, long list of things that we really like about him as a player.”
(How hopeful are you to have LS Blake Ferguson for Sunday?) – “Again, that’s a work in progress. We just opened his window and finally able to get some work on the field. We got a little bit yesterday, we’ll get more today, so that’s a work in progress.”
(On the opening kickoff, it looked like LB Chop Robinson and LB Channing Tindall got blocked, but DB Elijah Campbell was right there. Should he have taken on that blocker, or should he have tried to make the tackle?) – “Well, he did take the (blocker). We had two guys sort of play into one another, so that put us in a little bit of a bind, and then there was a lot of space then for Elijah (Campbell) to have to defend. Like anything, there’s some plays that you see where you can look at one major issue and point the finger at it. That play, we had a couple things, maybe non-ideal location on the kick, two guys end up in the same gap to create a lot of space, and again like we’ve talked about in here, against a very, very good player. So you put those things together and they’re at their 43-yard line to start the game.”
(This has nothing to do with your team, but I’m curious. Maybe the best kicker of all time has had trouble, how much – you’re in this position, and not to ask about him obviously, but in general – how much of kicking is mental?) – “A large part of it.”
(Like what? What percentage would you put?) – “I wouldn’t, but when you take – I’m going to put Justin Tucker in the exceptional player at a position. When a guy that’s had the success that he’s had and until this year, had the one hiccup maybe eight or nine years ago where he had a little bit of an issue in a year, but every other year he’s going to be 95.0 percent. Unless you see something jump out at you physically, which I don’t see because he’s still striking the ball at a high level, the mental part, it’s big. I don’t want to put a number on it, but it’s not talent, that’s for sure.”
(Have you had, and again, this isn’t about your team, but in your career have you had kickers – things just mentally something happening to them?) – “Oh, absolutely and it’s part of it. I’m not going to – we had a year where we had a guy start of 16-for-16 with several game winners and overtime winners and the next two games, he missed three kicks in one game and first kick of the next game. So a guy that’s 16-0 with multiple game winners all of a sudden missed four out of five kicks. And again, it’s part of the process. That just is a position where when you’re not out there a lot and there’s only one thing that people expect and want to see, when that’s not executed, the magnifying glass is on it.”
(I wanted to ask you about Green Bay and the kickoffs. Was that weather related and are you going to see more shorter kickoffs because of the change in the climate, change in the weather? And is there truth that the ball gets heavier, harder when it’s cold?) – “It gets harder and doesn’t compact as much is what happens. It doesn’t get heavier, but like anything – take a ball and put it in the freezer just for fun, and then try and squeeze it and you’re going to be like, ‘Wow, that’s a different animal.’ So obviously without the ball compacting as much, it’s not going to travel as far. So yeah, I think anytime when you start getting cold, it can have a factor, but I go back to last year when we played in Kansas City in the playoff game, by the end of that game both kickers are kicking touchbacks. It’s a moving target and some days guys are hitting the ball well, some days they’re not, then you add obviously the game plan part of it in terms of what you’re trying to do and how you’re trying to kick the ball. But simple rule though, yes. Wind and cold you’re going to see probably more opportunities in the return game.”
(How did S Patrick McMorris do?) – “Did good for his first time out. It’s always good to see guys that put in the work that get injured in the preseason and have to go four months before they get an opportunity. Again, another good, young player that we’re excited to have and get more on his plate and see where it goes.”
(You guys had a field goal where Green Bay jumped. Your guys didn’t move. From scrimmage, wouldn’t the offense touch the defensive guy and get the penalty? Is that different on special teams?) – “No, it’s not different but you don’t need (to). As soon as that guy crosses, that’s such a, for a lack of better terms, face-to-face play. There’s not a lot of separation there, as soon as that guy breaks the neutral zone, he almost is in fact touching us before we even have a (chance). But it was a nice job with the cadence, being able to get the five back to be able to come back, bring the offense back on the field and get the first down. You look at all those not change of possession, change of possession plays where you’re able to get the offense back to get the first down. Those plays are so – that guy moves, it’s almost impossible for him to not have contact – but the rule stays the same.”
(I know we talk about things that weren’t called and if you expect a call. Did TE Julian Hill get a block in the back on a kickoff return?) – “You know I can’t comment on that. But as I look at it, whichever team that would be on, I would have expected that call to be made. If it was us on the return team, I would have expected that to be a call.”
(And then on field goal, this is very minor. You made some changes on the line, T Jackson Carman not there anymore – OL Liam Eichenberg and DT Da’Shawn Hand were out during the game.) – “Well, a lot of that has to do with the game day. Who’s active, who’s inactive.”
(The punt that WR Malik Washington muffed, when that ball is rolling around it looked like CB Siran Neal and LB Quinton Bell had a chance. I know it’s tough, can you teach how to recover that?) – “Well yeah we do, and those are drills you do.”
(I mean that ball’s just hopping around, and Green Bay is there too.) – “Their guy is getting ridden out by two guys blocking him so him having first access. Those are all how and when to recover kicks, yeah, that’s part of some of the drill stuff you do, absolutely.”
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
RB De’Von Achane
(You’re probably the only person that chose another teammate’s charity foundation, The Tua Foundation, for you cause and cleats. Why did you make that decision?) – “He’s on my team, why not? He’s my QB1, so I can’t go wrong with choosing his foundation. There is a lot of people with their own foundations. I thought why not go with Tua (Tagovailoa); you can’t go wrong with that.”
(The last four games, not as much team rushing production as the previous four when you guys were on a hot stretch. What do you think has lead to that and what can you guys do to get back into some rushing production?) – “I just feel like teams just realized we were running the ball a lot so they started putting people in the box, but that just gets us going and opens up me in the pass game. I feel like we’re not going to get away from it, keep going but it’ll just open up different things for us.”
(How difficult was that fourth down situation or that goal line situation for you guys not to be able to physically punch it in?) – “It was frustrating. Like you said, we always want to score when we’re down in the red zone, and I feel like us scoring right there would’ve changed the game. If we score that touchdown, I feel like we go into a one possession game and the game is different. The outcome is different, we have momentum and we go down and get a stop, the whole game changes.”
(What do you think the Jets defense does well?) – “They got a great defense from their d-line to their DBs. I feel like they got a great defensive line. They come up the field and get to the QB. I feel like us, this is our first time playing this year, but we also play them twice, so I just feel like we got to key on the details and learn from when we first play them to the second time.”
(You had the guardian cap on and now you’ve gone a few games now without it. What was that decision making process?) – “There was no decision. I wore it to begin because of my mom, but I just felt like I didn’t need it anymore. I got a better helmet, so I just felt like I don’t need to wear it anymore.”
(Did you change your helmet?) – “Mmhmm.”
(OK, what was it then? What is it now?) – “It’s like the same, it’s just got more cushion inside.”
(In terms of this team, how critical is it to finish out strong? I guess you know the odds of what happens if you lose a game the rest of the way.) – “At this point on, I think every game is a playoff game. We know we’ve got to play every game like it’s our last, and I feel like that puts us in a position to go out here and make sure everybody puts it all on the line, 100%. I feel like we can’t take no days off.”
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Obviously you don’t play Aaron Rodgers, but what’s it going to be like being across from him, playing a team that he’s on considering how much he’s accomplished throughout his career?) – “I would say first off, a lot of respect to Aaron (Rodgers) and what he’s done throughout the course of his years playing at Green Bay. Obviously, we got to play against him two years ago, and he’s a Hall of Famer. Whether he looks like the same way he did in years past or not, you’re just going up against greatness regardless. The mindset that he has and to be able to still play at his age is really remarkable, and I’ve got a lot of respect for his game with how he goes about his business and how he does his things. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
(Does it feel like this matchup was a long time coming? It was so long ago that he went there and then missed last year and you face him for the first time late this year, so it’s been like I don’t know how many months-) – “Yeah, it’s been a long time coming but it’s super cool. I’m excited to see him go out there and have fun with his guys and play. Hopefully they don’t do too good against our guys, but we’re going to come out there and we’re going to compete as well and just admire good football if he goes out there and does his thing.”
(I think Aaron Rodgers turned 41 this week. Can you imagine yourself at age 41 still in the NFL?) – “I don’t know. I don’t know, that’s a long way to go for me. That’s a long way to go for me, so I’ll take it one year at a time – 26 feels good right now.”
(I’m sure you’ve heard the questions and concerns about this team’s toughness. As one of the leaders, how do you respond to people saying that this team is not tough mentally, physically, can’t handle the cold?) – “I would say that comes more from an individual in the way that I look at it. It comes from individuals and collectively you’ve got to all have that same mindset, that’s why we have team football, that’s why you’re in team sports. I think you’ve got to look at it as are you mentally tough and are you physically tough, they have to go hand in hand. If one of those things has a kink in it, it could go one way or the other. That’s what I would say with that.”
(How did you assess your game personally in the cold? Are there some positives that you can take away for the next time you’ll be in those environments?) – “There’s positives and there’s negatives, especially when you lose. There’s things that you wish you could have had back in that game, and there’s things that we just needed to clean up and be better with and more crisp.”
(You’re not new to the idea of people having a lot to say about you, whether it’s your play, the team you’re on or whatever. With some of the narratives, as Head Coach Mike McDaniel calls it, do you or the team feel like you have something to prove?) – “I think we as a team, as a collective team, we think we always have something to prove. Whether things are going right or things are not going right, everyone is going to have something to say whether you’re doing good or whether you’re not doing good. Sometimes guys read into it and they read too much into it and you can get it. And it goes both ways, right? Whether you lose and then you go down the rabbit hole of trying to respond to people, or when you win and you buy into what everybody is telling you and what not. I feel like that’s something that – around the league, it’s not just us – that is something that will forever be a battle for a lot of the guys playing in professional sports.”
(How surprised are you this team is 5-7?) – “Very surprised. I don’t think that shows the character of who we are as a team. It doesn’t show the work that we’ve put in this offseason together. Nobody else will say it but me, and I feel like this has a lot to do with myself obviously putting myself in harm’s way in the second game, going down – basically leaving my guys out to dry, that’s what I would say. Anyone can have an opinion about, ‘It’s football. It’s this, it’s that.’ I do take heart to that as well and still don’t want to do that to my guys again.”
(Speaking of which, there was obviously a play that got a lot of attention this past weekend with Trevor Lawrence. When you saw that play, you thought what?) – “Well I actually heard from a couple teammates what had happened and they were having conversations about it, then I went and looked at the play, that was crazy. I thought that was crazy. He was giving himself up and defensive guy came and smoked him. Then again, I don’t know the reaction time with being a defender trying to go and make a play on a guy, so like I don’t know all the logistics with that but I felt like he did have time to sort of, even if he was going to launch, he could’ve launched out of the way knowing that Trevor was giving himself up. To that, I hope Trevor is doing OK. I hope his family is OK. I know that can take a toll on your family more than yourself sometimes, and I hope his wife is OK as well.”
(There was a comment that Tom Brady was suggesting that maybe there should be a penalty if quarterbacks slide too late, trying to take a look from the defender’s point of view. How do you weigh all of that? I’m sure it’s – things happen so fast, it’s got to be difficult.) – “Yeah, that’s what I would say too, it’s difficult, and I would say for the defender for sure because they’re trying not to give up as many yards as possible. So for them, it kind of goes against what they’re trying to do essentially. I’m glad I don’t make up the rules and I’m glad I’m not in any of those meetings to give my two cents or whatever. I’m glad those guys in the higher ups are going to be able to talk about that one.”
(On a lighter note, I wanted to ask you about Moana 2. I saw you took your teammates and a lot of the younger kids to the movie. My personal opinion is Moana is the best Disney movie because it’s educational about cultures. As somebody who is popular, infamous – you represent your culture, very popular to Samoan and Polynesian community. How important is that representation to you? Not just the movie, but knowing that an entire culture of people look up to me?) – “I think it’s really cool, and when you look at it, it’s so cool because maybe a lot of people don’t understand that it’s necessarily not one culture; it’s many different cultures sort of mixed into one. Now in Moana 2, you kind of see more of other cultures than you did in the first Moana where it kind of felt like it was more Samoan, more Tongan, you can see some Hawaiian in there. And then in Moana 2, you can see Māoris in there, you can see Fijians are in there as well. You can see a little bit if you know or if you can understand, and I thought that was cool. My personal opinion, I didn’t think the songs were as good as Moana 1. Maybe that’s a hot take. (laughter) But I thought the songs in the first Moana stuck more than the second one. Overall the kids enjoyed it, glad we got to get out with a couple of teammates and spend some time with their kids and their families.”
(How much is the tattoos and the things like that about representing who you are and having all those kids look up to you?) – “Yeah, it definitely is a representation of who you are and your ethnic background. Different meanings of symbolism and you can sort of tell, ‘Oh this guy is Māori because the way his tattoo looks. This guy is Tongan, this guy is Samoan.’ But yeah, they just all have different ethnic background meanings to them.”
(And what are you?) – “Samoan. And then Hawaiians have their own as well. They also had in Moana 2 a good amount of Hawaiian ordeals in there, too.”
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
LB Chop Robinson
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about Jets QB Aaron Rodgers today, about facing greatness. Your first go around to face Aaron Rodgers, what are your thoughts on that?) – “Aaron Rodgers has been in the league since I was like, I think I was 1 year old in his first year, so it’s been a long time, a guy that I grew up watching and I’m just excited to go against him. He’s been in the game for a long time, went against honestly everybody, seen everything, so it’s just honestly going out there and just scheming him out.”
(I know you look up to LB Bradley Chubb, what was it like finally getting the chance to practice side-by-side with him?) – “It was crazy. I actually told him when we were warming up, I was like, ‘Damn, I’m actually on the field with you now. First off, we were just in the film room, out there on the field just side-by-side, but now I’m actually working with you.’ I was like, ‘that’s crazy.’ He was like, ‘yeah, we’re going to keep it going.’ So it’s just a dream come true and I’m just blessed.”
(When you watch the highlights, or any of his tape from last year, what do you notice?) – “He’s just very relentless. I’ve been watching him since he was back at N.C. State, so I feel he’s been the same guy in college. He elevated in some things, but him, just his effort and just going, especially in his pass rush. He’s just going, he never stops. That is something I wanted to take from his game.”
(On Aaron Rodgers coming back from that injury. Some are saying that his age is showing, tell me what you see in this quarterback right now, at his age and the situation the Jets are in.) – “To me, from when he first started playing to now, I feel like he’s still doing things that’s amazing. Especially at his age, he’s a little older now, so just doing the same thing he was doing back then, just not as much because of his age. But to me, he still looks like Aaron Rodgers out there.”
(I bet you’ve had a lot of these moments through your rookie season when you’re on the same field playing against guys who you remember watching when you were a kid. Does it seem like it’s getting old either? Cause it’s kind of like you’re getting your craft going, but you’re also soaking in some pretty amazing stuff.) – “Yeah, I’m just soaking it all in. You only live once. This has been a dream my whole life to get to the league, to not only be here, play with guys that I’ve been looking up to since I was in high school and everything like that. Honestly, I’m just blessed and soaking it all in day by day.”
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Last month the running game is at 2.96 yards per carry. Are you at the point where you’re considering personnel changes either potentially at guard or giving more carries to RB Raheem Mostert or maybe carries to RB Jeff Wilson Jr. who obviously has the toughness which every team likes? Are you considering any of those personnel changes?) – “I’m considering not telling you and the Jets our game plan, but yeah, I think rest assured there is never anything that, first and foremost, that I don’t take on personal responsibility for. That’s the job and your job is to try to problem solve, find solutions for players, scheme and results. And so there’s a lot of things at bay. This is the same conversation in ways that we were having prior to I think the New England game and much of the NFL season is finding solution, not necessarily overreacting to result; but taking result very seriously as it should and trying to benefit your team with some solutions in personnel, schematic. Those are very much all on the table always in situations that you don’t have the results you want.”
(What do you think of facing Jets QB Aaron Rodgers as a Jet for the first time ever? It feels like that move happened so long ago.) – “You’re pumped as a competitor to go against greatness for sure. Outside of that, I think there’s challenges that each and every team present and those challenges are specific to scheme and players and one of the best to ever – like a lot of people throw footballs in general and when you’re top tier of those who have ever done it, it presents its own challenges, but you attack that with a collective effort, tonality. For him, you’re talking about how we defend pass routes, how pass rush is, how run defense is because he’s a very, very difficult quarterback to go against when it’s run pass even. When you don’t know if it’s run or pass and have to defend both, he’s an elite ball thrower. So I think it’s kind of weird that it did happen so long ago and it’s the first time just based upon where the season is at and where the schedule fell, but looking forward to the challenge and very much focused on that.”
(Do you want your guys looking at social media right now knowing that things could be negative? Do you want them to use that as fuel or do you want them to totally ignore that?) – “I think I’m fortunate enough to be – I think I was in college when the iPod came out and the first Nokia cellphone and when Facebook started. So I acknowledge how ever-present (social media is). Like it would be if I’m asking them to not be on social media, maybe I feel better, but I’m more so like I’m trying to be in front of expectations of what things occur. Like literally it’s like clockwork each and every year. Your expectations need to be settled when results aren’t what you want. Listen, there’s a lot of people, fans that really want to see you do well. And I know one thing: when something doesn’t go your way and you have no control over it, it’s maddening. So stuff is going to be said. What I talked to the team about is yeah, expect it and – I think it’s kind of ironic – to expect something else would be… you’re entitled to something that other people don’t get. This is a big boy business. The people that don’t know your situation will have a lot of comments on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, but you can’t on one side of your mouth get mad about that and then accept the cheering and the praise. It’s one of those things that right, wrong or indifferent; in this generation, it is noisy either way. So I’m either coaching, managing expectations through success, trying to keep people levelheaded or trying to not have people worried about the wrong stuff when stuff that they can’t control in terms of what people say after a result that our team can control – we lose a game and as a head coach, I expect it. I’m not looking to be above and beyond and I think the more that you can talk to players about understanding the why, I think the better off you are. But to be absolved of the noise is impossible unless you are extremely antisocial for a lot of these guys.”
(The idea of toughness has been talked about this team a lot. Do you think that toughness is something that comes from the players or it has to come top down? Like can you instill a tough attitude in this team or is it if the players don’t have it, they don’t have it?) – “I think again, I expect any and all things to be on the table when we don’t fulfill first and foremost our own expectations which we haven’t hid from and fallen short. I think you have to be – as a coach, I try not to focus on anything but factual things that can improve players and teams. So if I have an example of weakmindedness or situations where a guy is turning something down or how he’s loafing because of a result; those are things I can coach. And I think you bring to attention – I think holding people accountable is part of how as a coach you can impact toughness. I think overall it’s a violent, competitive sport that when things don’t go your way, a lot of things get thrown out there. Who’s to say who’s right or wrong. If you disagree with that sentiment, to me, there’s only one emotional reaction and that’s the focus on proving that wrong. But to sit here and debate ‘tough, not tough’ – all I know is dudes are aggressively tackling each other, taking on hits and I assess the tape because that to me is fact. You could hypothesize innumerable amounts of things whether it’s player, coach, all that and in situations where if you’re worried about the toughness of your team, to me, you study the effort, intentionality and how people are playing when things are tough, when things are down. So to answer your question, I’m very aware that the narrative exists and with absolute certainty I know the narrative will exist unless it changes; there’s one way to change it and that’s winning a game against the New York Jets and you know what? People still might not call you tough. Cool. I’m very much – I take it very serious that as a head coach, to be responsible for things that can help, to be accountable and to bring forth information that’s actually helpful, not finger pointing. Accountability is first and foremost for me and then players, you can’t hide in this league game after game, so we’ll either have people talking about our toughness or we won’t.”
(Were there a few turn downs or loafs on defense that angered you?) – “I am alive, I have ears and eyes and I hear the stuff after the game. So the coach in me is very like, ‘turn the page’ and I’m like a hawk eye. I’m looking at each player and not only what they’re doing but as a coach you have like a filing system of like, ‘I’ve seen this player in this situation multiple times’ and I saw strain, I saw technique and fundamentals that fell short as the game progressed; but it wasn’t turning down. For me the tackling – if you go and look at it – every missed tackle you have a defender whose feet are stopped at the point of attack. I understand in the heat of the moment and the frustration especially when you put so much into it. I can understand right after a game, players feeling X, Y or Z. So I think it’s important as the head coach that I have factual evidence and then we go as a team and assess it. And it would have been ugly if there were guys loafing or turning it down from a team perspective, but that’s why you do things as a team, because however motivating I am, it’s not as motivating as that locker room and peer-to-peer accountability. For me we have enough leaders that it’s important to that if that gets on the radar, I’ll have four or five players demanding that they’re not on the field with a guy and that’s what you want.”
(I know there’s a lot to be gleaned from the next couple days in terms of how LB Bradley Chubb and LB Cameron Goode look in practice since we haven’t seen them in a long time, but given that it’s very rare for you to open a window and have that player play that Sunday, can you rule out that either or both might play or where do you stand with that?) – “To me it’s really easy with guys that have – their window is opened because of them. I think there’s nothing more difficult as a player than getting injured at the end of a season, having to rehab through the offseason and start the season in that same regard. So you want to talk about having to be intentional and deliberate with your daily activities and mentally strong; so them having their window opened is something they earned and I don’t discount what you’re saying at all. I think you’re dead-on, I think it is rare; however I wouldn’t take an opportunity away from someone that was ready for it especially when they dive so deep to get the opportunity. So that’s why I kind of just let it play out literally not for any sort of competitive advantage or whatever; I’m going to let the players play, watch the film of themselves, go back to practice again with pads on, do the same thing again. And then right, wrong or indifferent; if a guy feels 100 percent ready to play that has done what they’ve done in front of their teammates – the walkthrough today, it was really cool to see the response of teammates when those guys got reps. And when they’re ready, which I’m also not trying to – like my expectation is that that takes time. It is the first football practice in a year. So I’m not expecting anything, but you don’t rule it out just because. Bottom line is want them and their earned opportunity when they feel ready to execute what’s asked of them and that they’re able to play, and fortunately with those two guys, such a great relationship with them and I trust them that I won’t have to – we’ll be able to talk through it and be responsible because they’re competitors but they also understand that they want to be right, too, for the team.”
(What type of work are you expecting them to get? Are they going to get looks work or base defense work this week?) – “Both. You’re understanding that their window is open, but time will tell if they’re playing. You can’t shortchange the people that are playing right now to not be ready for the game. They also can’t take every rep, so you get them involved and in the process, but you can’t overdo it. But their game has to be right so how do you make it up? You make it up on look teams as well, so you try to balance it that way so that everyone is afforded the appropriate opportunity for this Sunday.”
(I think last week LB Anthony Walker Jr. shouldn’t miss extensive time. How is he doing and how did LB Tyrel Dodson also do with his opportunity?) – “So ‘Walk’ (Anthony Walker Jr.) is doing well, intentionally not practicing today, but if I know ‘Walk’ I’m expecting to see him tomorrow and we’ll be prudent with that. ‘TD’ (Tyrel Dodson), like I can’t say enough good things about him. Coming in here and being a Mike linebacker and assimilating with his teammates and earning their respect; for me as a head coach, I can observe from a mile away when players earn the respect of their teammates simply by how they interact and how they celebrate or how they communicate and I think it just says a lot about him how the confidence of the defense didn’t waver with a guy communicating calls to each and every one of them that they just heard his voice for the first time a couple weeks ago. So I think he did a phenomenal job being ready to play starting-caliber football in this defense and doing so with a game plan on a short week, so really, really happy with him on the team and he did a great job.”
Monday, December 2, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(It wouldn’t be Monday without asking you if LB Bradley Chubb or LB Cam Goode will begin practicing this week?) – “Well, of course their window will be opening. Yeah, those two, they’ll be out there practicing on Wednesday and to me, those are the I think very impactful just to have them on the practice field. That’s never lost on teammates when you have an extensive injury that happens in-season so then you are finishing the season rehabbing. The offseason program, they’re watching them rehab. The beginning of the season, they’re watching them rehab. While everyone’s on vacation, they are here rehabbing. So it’ll be exciting to get their windows started and they’ll be practicing on Wednesday.”
(Can you speak to the boost that can provide the defense to have an edge rusher of LB Bradley Chubb’s caliber and obviously everything LB Cam Goode does?) – “I think just from a team standpoint, any time you have, like I said, guys that are sacrificing day in, day out, right in front of you, just having them to start practice; that in itself, beyond the players but the people, you inherently don’t take as much for granted when you’re out there watching them go through it and been fortunate enough to be for all the teammates that will be out there with them. They’ve gotten the opportunity to play, I know those two won’t take any practice rep for granted and I think that just in general is an added lift regardless of what happens between the lines on whatever Sunday.”
(Did you get any clarity on CB Kader Kohou’s back? Just making sure that it’s not something that would sideline him.) – “Yeah, he’s still working through it and I know it’s not something that’s in the conversation of a roster adjustment or whatever. Whether or not he’s going to be ready for this game, that’s a little too early to tell, I think.”
(How about CB Cam Smith?) – “His injury was a little more severe. What that means for – I would say that would be week-to-week. Discussing ways to attack it, but it was a rough injury that will keep him out for this week. I know that much.”
(CB Kendall Fuller?) – “Optimistic, optimistic. He is still in protocol, but optimistic just based upon conversations with the experts and him. Optimistic that he’ll be out there this game, but we’ll see how the protocol progresses.”
(I don’t think we followed up with you on the QB Tyler “Snoop” Huntley activation, would it be competition now coming up for that backup job between him and QB Skylar Thompson?) – “No, but the plan is that I wanted to see ‘Snoop’ (Tyler Huntley) operate and everything, but the plan is to have him back Tua (Tagovailoa) up this week.”
(You’ve seen plenty of QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Davante Adams in your time as a coach, what makes that connection, and the Jets passing game if you can, special or difficult to defend?) – “It’s all the working history that those two have, you can’t replicate. Like it’s hours upon hours, so when you talk about pass game in the National Football League, if it was a seven-on-seven league, it would be a much different league. The big component in the pass game is getting open in the timing of the play because of pass rush. So those hyper split-second things that happen on every given down, you talk about a tenth of a second can be the difference if you know what someone’s going to do and a completion explosive. You wait one-tenth because of uncertainty and it’s a sack-fumble. The two extremes of pass plays, everything is dependent upon guys being on the same page in super contested situations. So you talk about the way that they can orchestrate the old west coast ‘Lookie’ route – which is he can break in or break out within five yards. I mean they have some of the all-time best clips and have done it Week 1, Week 17, playoffs. They’ve done it a ton so that working relationship goes a long way in football, so I think you have to be that much more sound in your technique and fundamentals and rely on your teammates to own their leverage and if you’re an outside leverage player, to rely on the player that has inside leverage that’s zoning, or vice versa. Those things are paramount, otherwise they’ll take advantage of any sort of indecision with convicted play, so it’s something that you have to prepare to not make it a competitive advantage that inherently they would have unless you are on your Ps and Qs and ready to defend them.”
(A question about the offense. The offense that we see this year, is it here to stay, the offense we’re seeing now? Or next year, do you go back to the WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle-centric offense?) – “I think it’s important that you don’t – there’s a saying about like ‘swim uphill,’ or go against the current or something. Whatever that is, you want to score points on as many possessions as possible. You do that by getting first downs, getting yardage, getting in field goal range and then punching it into the endzone. I think the more you execute at the zones that defenses are giving up to defend Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle), the more that it comes full circle. To me, the offense hasn’t really changed from a concept standpoint; it’s been an emphasis on how to take advantage of people overplaying those two. So I think you saw it in the past game. It was the end of the game, but it was a coverage that they had been running all game. We had a 30-yard completion in rhythm to Tyreek that was something that was heavily influenced by Jonnu (Smith) sitting down in the five-yard area that when you turn those five-yard completions into 14-yard gains like he did earlier in the game, I think that same offense that you’re referring to, it’s all about how defenses are choosing to really attack you and what they’re willing to concede and if they’re willing to concede certain things to double those guys, we have to execute in full tonality. Not only the other eligibles, not only the quarterback, not only the protection, but Jaylen and Tyreek have to threaten the defense the same way if they were getting the ball. And if they do that, and defenses are made to pay, I think within that game, that 30-yard completion that I’m referring to probably wasn’t open earlier in the game. It’s much of executing from an entire tonality, an entire unit, all 11 people and you can pick your poison when you’re running appropriate offense. And if they want to bring a five-man pressure or blitz or bring six, you have to be able to execute there. If they want to drop an extra guy in zone, do a three-man rush or a two-man rush; that’s the game you’re playing. So I think the more production that we see across the board, I think just in this last two game sample set or maybe the last three games, you’ve seen some explosives and some more production closer to what we’re used to from Tyreek and Jaylen. They’ve been ready for the opportunity, but it’s also been based upon having to be able to be productive doing other things to make them defend the flats or the short curl areas or whatever they’re giving up to give that extra attention to those two.”
(Speaking of that production TE Jonnu Smith already has career highs in receptions and receiving yards and has a few games left. What have been some of the keys behind the success?) – “I think his development first and foremost within the offense, I think he’s really gravitated towards the timing and understanding, how being open when the quarterback is ready to throw it to him and being able to use his speed on the stems of routes vertically before he snaps down or does any sort of break. That’s been huge for him and I think he signed on for the journey with a vision of, hey, I think I can really take advantage of where defenses are going to try to really load up that intermediate and third level of coverage and that space; I can make people pay. And then in coordination with all the work that Jon Embree has done with him and Tua’s ability to be confident and convicted when he goes to him, he’s getting the ball and probably he’s getting better ball placement for his run after catch than he’s ever had before which is based upon Tua’s skillset and what he is elite at. And then just honestly the momentum, every time Tua throws it to him I think he’s positively reinforced based upon his teammates because his teammates – Jonnu brings juice when he touches the ball. You can feel the violence with which he carries the ball and approaches tacklers and he’s not a fun guy to tackle. He’s a hard guy to bring down and certainly someone that I think at the beginning of the season probably was fourth or fifth on the table of priorities of people to attention to on offense and I think he’s climbed his way up simply taking advantage of the opportunities presented. So I think it’s the whole, really the operation from the quarterback to Jonnu and Jonnu is making the most of those opportunities by the amount of separation he’s achieving in his routes and then his mindset – understanding what he brings to this team with the ball in his hands and taking that personal.”
(What are the ways that you and the coaching staff measure the physical and mental toughness of the team?) – “There’s no shortcut to that. I think it’s very, very important to remove emotion and critically assess how people respond to all sorts of things, whether there’s a similarity in the amount of mental toughness you need to have if you have a two-score lead or you’re down by two scores. Either way, you should be focusing on the job at hand, your specific role, your technique, your fundamentals, and letting the four-quarter game play out as such. And so you find out a ton in winning, you find out a ton in losing. You find out a ton in just how people respond to all the different things thrown a professional football player’s way. Regardless, we don’t execute our jobs in a vacuum. I think it’s a big indicator when there’s a lot of noise – good or bad – so if people are crowning you to be the Super Bowl champion midseason or people are talking about next year in the middle of it, either way you really get a vision into where your team’s mental fortitude is at. I think the journey from 2-6 to 5-6 told me a ton and it gives me a certain sort of expectation now being 5-7 moving forward. You want to know if a team can really focus itself on the opponent – honestly, that’s the only thing that really matters. For us, that’s the New York Jets. As tough as the last game was against the Green Bay Packers or as cool as a three-game win streak, all of it is erroneous. You have to prepare yourself for the next game and that’s where it’s imperative to be mentally strong as a football team, and based upon kind of our circumstance as a football team, we were blessed with adversity early. So you feel like you have a mentally tough football team based upon that and expectations based upon my experience with them. Our whole football team will have an opportunity to showcase mental toughness and internal fortitude this week coming off a loss. But you’re tested constantly in the National Football League just based upon the longevity of the season, how difficult each week is and how many times you have to pick yourself off the canvas to have a successful season. Because outside of the ’72 Dolphins, that’s what every team has had to do to have success.”
(How is T Kendall Lamm doing?) – “He proved who he is once again for us. The injury that he sustained during the game, getting on the elbow, a lot of people don’t even sniff the field again. That’s a very painful injury. He came back and could have played longer if we asked him to. I think he’s a veteran that knows how to take care of his body and has a very high pain tolerance so he’s doing all right.”
Monday, December 2, 2024
LB Chop Robinson
(I don’t know if you heard LB Jordyn Brooks’ comment afterwards that he thought the team was affected by the elements up in Green Bay. You’re somebody from the north, you played at Penn State, did the elements affect you? Did the elements affect the team in your opinion?) – “It was definitely different coming from here. Not being at Penn State for a while and going back to the cold, but I felt used to it. It’s definitely getting back into it and getting warm and everything, but the main thing, we just got to tackle, make the plays that were in front of us.”
(Does that happen to guys that come from those environments, but then you spend some time from Miami, you’ve been in warm weather for several months, and then once you go back that first time back it kind of hits you?) – “I mean, yeah. It hit me the day before when we got off the plane but I’m kind of used to it, so just got to go out there and just execute honestly.”
(Besides the missed tackles, what else came up when Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver talked to the group today as areas he wants shoring up in?) – “I mean that was the main thing, juts missed tackles. There’s times where it could have been a one-yard gain or two-yard gain, but we turned that into eight yards. The main thing is just tackling and stopping the ball.”
(Is it different with the fingers, like grabbing when it was cold? The hitting obviously hurts a little more when it’s cold but is it the wrapping up and stuff with the hands? Is that what gets affected by weather mostly?) – “Yeah, you could say that plays a factor but honestly at the end of the day, you just got to tackle, wrap up, run your feet through contact – that’s the main thing. I feel like we were wrapping up but not running our feet through contact, so just got to work on those.”
(You spent years at Penn State, you played in the cold like we talked about and then you come down here after getting drafted. You get off the plane and that humidity hits you in the face. So I guess my question is, what do you find more difficult, adjusting to that heat and humidity coming from the north, or coming from the south and going up north to play in cold?) – “I wouldn’t say either one is difficult, it’s just adjusting to it. Either the cold or the heat, whatever you’re in, you just got to adjust to it and be able to play in it. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult, it’s just something you got to get used to.”
(What do you think are some of the things that are contributing to your pass rush wins? The run you’ve been on of late that have now also translated to accumulating some sacks.) – “I would just say listening more to my coaches, just taking all the information from all the vets and all the older guys, watching film with them, working extra with them. It’s been paying off, so I’m just going to keep doing that.”
(What was the best thing about the run that you were on? Was it seeing the actual result with the sack or maybe the affirmation that you’re doing the right thing? 3.5 sacks in four games, what was the best thing about that?) – “Just taking in the information from the vets, doing everything that I could to make plays and make things happen, and once I took the information from the film room and on the field and took it to the game, it worked out for me. So I’m just going to continue that and then take it one day at a time.”
(What does that moment feel like when you’re doing the “Chop” celebration, and you have like eight guys behind you doing it with you?) – “It feels good, especially having Zach (Sieler). I feel like every time I did it, Zach was always right beside me. So just seeing Zach after every time I get a sack, it feels amazing just having the whole team do it with me.”
(How do you feel your pass rush arsenal has increased over your rookie season?) – “I feel like it opened up. I feel like once I came in, I would just focus on speed, that’s the only thing I had. But once I started to learn more against the tackles I was going against and talking with the older guys, I was able to open up my bag and figure out different moves, and I feel like it’s been working for me.”
(We hear that being wider has helped you, it’s given you the option of a two-way attack. Is that accurate? Or what has being wider, lining up wider, done for you?) – “It sets up different rushes for the tackle. I could use my speed; my main thing is getting off the ball, so once I get off, if he sees me so wide, he might try to run out to me. I could take the inside or power him, so it just sets up different moves for the tackle that I’m going against.”
(Are you using the power move more? It seems like you’re kind of running through offensive tackles more than you did, maybe six, seven games ago. Is that accurate or am I imagining that?) – “You could say it’s accurate. I always started off with that because I feel like a lot of tackles I’m going against, they see my size and they’ll be like, ‘He can’t power.’ So once I bring it to them, I just put them in their mind as it messes up their game a little bit.”
(I think you were two years old when QB Aaron Rodgers got drafted into the NFL. Did you grow up an Aaron Rodgers fan?) – “Yeah, my older brother, he was actually a Green Bay fan; he loved Aaron Rodgers. So I’m excited to go against him, excited to go against the Jets, excited to go against my former teammate (Olu Fashanu). When the game comes, I’m just excited to play.”
(What will a sack on QB Aaron Rodgers mean to you?) – “It would mean a lot. Just watching the guy when I was a baby, and then my older brother, that was his guy too. So just doing whatever I can for the team for the win.”
(Have you and OL Olu Fashanu talked this week? Or is there any Penn State talk there or Dolphins-Jets? Are you guys texting at all this week?) – “He texted me the other day just asking, ‘I better get that jersey.’ He told me that he better get that jersey after the game, and we’re definitely going to make that happen.”
(How was playing at Lambeau Field? How did that compare to I guess Seattle or some of the other places you played this season?) – “It was good. It was a lot of experience, a lot of history at that stadium so just going out there and just soaking it all in. Since I was a kid, I’ve been seeing it on TV, so it’s honestly a blessing just to be out there.”
(What are some of your memories of going against OL Olu Fashanu?) – “I would just say really one-on-ones everyday in practice. When I first got to Penn State, I kept hearing the hype about Olu (Fashanu) and then once I went out there, I tried to just burn him off the ball and he put me down to the ground. I was like, ‘OK, yeah. He’s the real deal.’ (laughter) So I would just say honestly, the one-on-ones that I went against him every day in practice, and he made me better.”
(And you would get your payback on him?) – “Oh yeah, 100%. Always got my payback.”
Monday, December 2, 2024
DT Zach Sieler
(We were just having a talk about tackling in cold weather. How much tougher if at all is it to tackle in the running game in particular in cold weather?) – “I don’t think it’s tougher to tackle. I think we’ve got to do a better job on surfaces that aren’t ideal of breaking down and keeping our feet under us to make those tackles. And then running to the ball, swarm tackle.”
(What’s the spirit of the team right now? This team has been pretty resilient group. The five-game losing streak two years ago. All of the defensive injuries late last year. What is the team’s mindset right now?) – “We’ve got to take it one step at a time. We’ve got five weeks left. We’ve got to beat the Jets this week, we’ve got to roll. I don’t think there’s any step back or any hesitation from anyone. There’s no sense of that whatsoever. It’s make this push and let’s get this done.”
(Obviously you need help to get into the playoffs. Did you take a peek at standings at all or do you just figure you take care of your business and everything else takes care of itself?) – “I haven’t. That’s it. Absolutely.”
(What was said as much as you can tell us about the missed tackles? I don’t know if you guys have watched the film or anything. What’s been said about that?) – “What I (responded to the first question). Same thing. We’ve got to keep our feet. We’ve got to keep our feet. We’ve got to swarm tackle, run to the ball and play violent.”
(I’ll ask you what I asked WR Jaylen Waddle a minute ago. And it’s a narrative if you want to call it a narrative, but it’s something that’s been said and was certainly said after Thursday night’s game, that this is a speed team and not a physical team, not a tough team. What’s your response?) – “Shoot, I guess we’ve got to prove it wrong. If people think that, we’ve got to go out there and beat it. I don’t think that’s the case. I think we play physically up front. I think we play physically all around. I think we’ve got to make sure we’re showing that on Sunday.”
(Is there a mental switch that happens when you get into these December and later games? Or have you guys already had to turn that on with how the season has gone?) – “Ever since (our record was) 2-6 we’ve had to have that on. It’s definitely a mindset when you’re at that point. It’s like, hey, we’ve got to scratch and crawl out of here as best we can and it’s still possible. So it’s just a matter of winning these next five and it starts this week with the Jets.”
(What do you think of facing those Jets? Obviously a team you have a lot of familiarity with but haven’t seen them in such a long time and haven’t seen them with QB Aaron Rodgers either.) – “Yeah, I think they’re a great team. They’ve got a lot of weapons, they’ve got a great quarterback. He played a lot of ball. I think he’s probably one of the only ones that has played more ball than Calais (Campbell). (laughter) So definitely got to make sure we get in our playbooks and get into film study and see what’s coming at us.”
(All the good vibes you guys had from the three-game winning streak, I know that was a tough loss at Green Bay, but do those vibes still exist, the lessons that you’ve learned and all of that kind of stuff?) – “Absolutely. Obviously to get to this point, we’ve went through a lot and we’ve done a lot. And I think those games were a testament to that and I think it shows how powerful we can be; we just need to put it together in all three phases this week.”
(Have you given any thought either in the offseason or even during the season, under Head Coach Mike McDaniel you guys have had many streaks – win streaks and losing streaks – why do you suppose that is?) – “I guess I haven’t thought about that. I don’t know. I haven’t put much thought to that. I think it’s a matter of just the team in general and what we’re going through. We’ve got to stay tough when we’re winning and we’ve got to stay tough when we’re losing and either get out of it or keep it going.”
Monday, December 2, 2024
TE Jonnu Smith
(What can you say about your season? You’ve got – if I’m not mistaken – career highs in receptions and yards, you’ve been a main part of the offense through that three-game winning streak. What do you think of your season and maybe your last two seasons even.) – “All praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, first and foremost. Just having individually, the best year of my career, so that’s one thing that I’ve always understood that individuals don’t win football games. Lighting up the stat sheet doesn’t win football games, but I understand that individuals having individual success, if the bulk of the team is having individual success; then that’s going to lead to a bunch of wins, so I’m just trying to do my part and be the best version of myself for this team to put us in the best situation to win games.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel has talked a lot about overplay, capitalizing on overplay as an offense. How have you seen defenses adjust over these last few games as you’ve gotten more and more involved to try and take you away from the offensive gameplan?) – “We’re just taking what the defense gives us, man. You can’t play everything. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too, in this league. So we just continue to try to take what the defense gives us and just continue to execute. Like I said, you can’t guard everybody, you can’t guard every area of the field; so it’s just very imperative to us to capitalize when we see big space and opportunities to make big plays, whether it be down the field or underneath.”
(What’s the mindset of this team right now?) – “One game at a time, one game at a time. We’ve still got life, very optimistic, a lot of warriors in our locker room, a lot of fighters in our locker room, proud to be a part of this team, 100 percent and we’re going to continue to fight, continue to put our hard hats on and go to work.”
(This offense had a stretch of games where the run game got going, then now it hasn’t been as much. Now QB Tua Tagovailoa has been throwing the ball around to you and even some to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, what do you think are some of the ways that can lead to some more balance? Both getting that run game and that pass game working together.) – “Yeah, we’ve got to find some obviously tranquility within the offense, you know what I mean? When I say tranquility, I mean more so balance, not peace. You don’t want a peaceful football team, that wouldn’t be a good football team. (laughter) But you definitely want to find some more balance in the offense and just get things back to where we know they can be. Like I said, it comes with evaluating the film, holding each other accountable, looking ourselves in the mirror, seeing what we can do better, and we started with that approach today and that’s just going to kind of be the mindset going forward.”
(Do you feel it is an emphasis for the team to get the run game back going?) – “Absolutely. If you want to win in this league, you’ve got to run the ball, plain and simple. I know even as a pass catcher – obviously would love to be in an offense where you throw the ball 40, 50 times a game. But if you’re not running the ball well, you’re just not going to win in this league. If you’re not going to run the ball consistently, consistently well, you’re just not going to win in this league so that’s just a point of emphasis that we strive to reach in this organization.”
(What do you think has been the key over these last three games? This has got to be one of the best three-game stretches of your career. What do you think has been the key?) – “Yeah, oh man, like I said earlier man, for me personally my faith in Jesus Christ has allowed me to just go out there, play free, play confident, you know what I mean? My faith has allowed me to know that I’ve been blessed with a gift that can’t go to waste, so it’s got to be daily work put in. Whether that be me staying after practice, me going out there before practice, recovering my body – rest is also a huge part of maintaining a high performance because you’re nothing without your body in this league – in any professional sport. So definitely got to take care of your body, but just keeping my mind right and again, just coming up here every day, being joyful that this amazing opportunity I’ve been blessed with to play this game that I love, that I still am in love with and just go out there, be free and be the best version of myself.”
Monday, December 2, 2024
WR Jaylen Waddle
(I don’t know if you heard the LB Jordyn Brooks comments about the cold weather being a factor. What did you think? Was cold weather a factor in the Green Bay game?) – “No, not really. I think they just outplayed us, out-executed us and no, we’ve played in colder weather so no.”
(The new offense that you guys have, is this the offense that’s here for the future, do you think or do you think you guys go back next year to the big play passing offense that we saw the previous two seasons?) – “I think we’re doing a good job of taking what the defense gives us, not forcing plays, not putting the quarterback in bad situations where he’s forced to do something or puts the ball in jeopardy. So I think it’s just doing what the defense allows us to do. We’re doing a good job of moving the ball, just got to stay ahead of the chains. We’ll be all right.”
(Would you like to see it go back to where you and WR Tyreek Hill had all those targets and all those receptions?) – “Whatever helps us win. If it’s big plays, yeah, if it’s defense wants to keep its shell and make us drive; whichever helps us win.”
(What do you think can be done in cold weather games to maybe boost the team if you do face those scenarios again in Cleveland…?) – “It’s all about mindset. They’re cold, we’re cold. So go out there and just embrace it, embrace the cold and live in the moment, for real, for real. It was prime time at Lambeau so just live in the moment. You don’t get too many games like that.”
(What about the bigger picture? “This is a speed team and not a tough team” – do you hear that a lot and you heard it after Thursday night’s game? What’s your response?) – “I’d never heard that before.”
(How does the team bounce back?) – “We’ve got a tough opponent ahead in the Jets. So it’s a work week. Back to work. We’ve got five more games. Every game is essential now, so yeah, man, back to work. Keep the main thing the main thing. We’ve got a tough opponent this week.”
(When you guys went back and looked at some of the penalties and the mental mistakes, what would you attribute to some of them?) – “We definitely harp on – Mike (McDaniel) definitely harps on not killing ourselves before the play. We just have to be better in that aspect of the game. Yeah, we’ve just got to be better.”
(Are there times in the game where you or WR Tyreek Hill just don’t want to come out of the game and I say that because sometimes you need a couple shots at something before it happens, you know what I mean? Like are there times where you guys don’t want to come out of games in certain situations?) – “I mean unless we’re just extremely tired, we’re normally in the game and we probably get a play off and then go right in. So me and ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill) definitely try to be in the game. We know that it kind of affects how the defense plays us and trying to keep a shell on so yeah, we always want to be in the game, always.”
(Are you guys in a mindset right now where each game is an elimination game? Do you feel like essentially postseason starts now?) – “Yeah, we dug ourselves into a hole so every game is important now. Every game.”
(You mentioned facing the Jets. What do you think of seeing them again? A team that you have a lot of familiarity with but you haven’t seen them in such a long time, too?) – “It’s going to be a tough game. Every time we play the Jets, it’s going to be a tough game. A great group. Defense is always great. Yeah, man, we’ve got a lot on our plate this week handling everything that comes with them.”
