LB Bradley Chubb
(Now you’ve had several weeks in the system. How do you see yourself coming along?) – “I feel it coming along well. I’m just starting to get more comfortable each and every week, each and every day. It helps when I’ve got the talent around me as well and just trying to learn about these guys, learn how I rush, how I play and learn how they cover guys, how the inside linebackers shoot downhill and stuff like that. So I’m still learning, but I feel like I’ve got a better grasp for the guys around me as well and they’ve got a better grasp of me, too. I feel like it’s only up from here.”
(You joined the team that has played Bills QB Josh Allen several times. How much experience do you have against him and how much do you feed off of other guys’ experience?) – “I just played him one time and then as we watch film I’ve been asking like, ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel), Mel (Ingram) and JP (Jaelan Phillips), like against the tackles what they saw, what do they remember. Just a lot of different types of stuff I get tips and stuff on because the last time I played them was 2020, so it’s been a while and a lot of the roster has changed and stuff like that. So just want to make sure I’m going out there and being the best me. I feel like it’s going to be a good week for our guys on their edge so we’ve got to make sure we lock in and do what we know we can do.”
(I know a lot of coaches say they measure pass rush effectiveness by pressures rather than sacks. Are you the same way or does it bother you if they don’t result in enough sacks to your liking?) – “I’m not going to lie to you, I like my sacks, man. (laughter) I like seeing the number grow each and every week, but at the end of the day, that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about helping this team win and if that’s with the pressure of getting my hand in somebody’s face so he can’t see the play downfield and my dawg ‘Snow Man’ (Jevon Holland) picks it off, then I’m just as good with that. So it really is for me personally, you like the numbers, but the team overall you just want to do whatever helps the team win.”
(And has there been any change in the attention you’re getting whether it’s chipping or multiple on you here compared to Denver?) – “I feel like it was about the same. I feel like this past Chargers game I got chipped a lot, but they were trying to help the young guy out. He just gave up a couple sacks the week before, so I understood that. But at the end of the day when you’ve got dawgs like we’ve got dawgs, it’s hard to focus on one person. So it’s been a pleasure and honor to rush with the guys I’m rushing with and just trying to go out there and like I said, just be the best me. And hopefully that leads to sacks, pressures, whatever it takes to win.”
(And a quality that stands out to you about LB Jaelan Phillips as a player. What stands out to you about what makes him special and potentially a really, really good NFL outside linebacker?) – “Relentless. Just relentless. He’s got all the physical traits. Everything physical you could think of, he has and the thing that separates him is how he runs to the ball 30 yards down the field and how he reacts just to the different adversity that goes throughout the game and he never wavers. Always the same player, always the same guy so that’s what’s going to make him great.”
(What’s it been like working with LB Melvin Ingram? I imagine in the AFC West when you were a young player, he must have been a guy you looked at within the division?) – “One hundred percent. Yeah, 100 percent. Just always looking at him when I was young, just looking at him, I saw what tackles he was going against and kind of mirrored my rush playing off what he did the week before or prior to that, so it’s dope to be around him. You get to pick his brain, see how he operates, see how he goes about stuff and he’s probably one of the funniest dudes in this locker room, too, so that always helps. Keeping it light, keeping it fun. So it’s been a great experience for sure.”
(And out there in Denver you probably played your share of snow games…) – “Only played one. I only played one, but I know what it’s going to take. I know what it feels like. I know the Buffalo cold is probably a little different than the Denver cold, but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to block out the noise and the benches are heated, the sidelines are heated; so that’s going to be our main thing. Just make sure we handle what we need to handle on the field so we can get to the bench that much faster and be able to warm up. (laughter)”
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(The likelihood we see OL Liam Eichenberg in uniform on Saturday would be what?) – “I don’t know – 50/50?”
(I know we’ll get the injury report later and there are some things you probably don’t want to disclose for a few hours understandably. Is there anything you want to share in regards to T Terron Armstead or RB Jeff Wilson Jr.? And if the answer is no, we certainly understand.) – “No. I think I saw an energetic and exuberant Terron Armstead in meetings. So that’s good.”
(Your “I wish it were colder” t-shirt. Where did that come from and what message were you trying to send?) – “That was not intended to be anything but something that is just kind of a mentality for the team. I honestly forgot I had it on when I was out there with your guys’ cameras. I think an experience, whether it was fate or whatever, I’ve only spent one year on a cold-weather team in terms of coaching for one, which was Cleveland. Every other team, I’ve kind of been a warm-weather coach. In all of those circumstances, you inevitably have to play cold games. Philosophically, I think it’s important to acknowledge before the day of the game what it is. But at the same time, it’s a football game where the elements are the same for both people. I think that’s a way of emphasizing something but not obsessing about something, was my objective. You guys have seen the shirts that I had for (the heat). The point being is we have a football game to play. I think it is the job of every player involved to get their mind right to have their best performance. The bottom line is I don’t see weather as something that you can lean on for x, y or z when you’re competing at a game that you guys do professionally. I think if a team allows it to be a thing, then it’s a thing. That’s our attempt to acknowledge the obvious and move on as fast as possible.”
(The team you coached with last year pulled off a big playoff upset in a frigid environment. What were some characteristics of that team that made it successful in the playoffs?) – “Early in the week, that team decided that it wasn’t going to be an issue. And I think that’s something that I’ve learned in the course of my career, that if you decide something is going to be something, the power of the mind is stronger than people realize. It’s something that can be embraced when you kind of realize that everybody is going through it as well. All of your teammates are. I think that strong-minded will is a characteristic that I’ve seen in this team. It’s gone through some stuff already as a young team. It went through stuff early in the season and we’re going through some stuff now. I think that can be healthy if you have the will and the spirit. I see a lot of guys that are capable of that and that’s my hope moving forward on Saturday.”
(You guys played Buffalo a long time ago, many games ago. What’s different about your team since then? Do you have more confidence? Have you answered questions that you had?) – “Your team is a steadily evolving organism, so to speak. That was Game 3 of the season and I think a lot of people were, in that moment, trying to prove that we were worthy of some of the better teams in the league to compete against. I think we find ourselves in a situation – any time you lose games in a row in an NFL regular season, there’s something that you feel like you have to go out and prove, just in general. But there are some different players on the field. The bottom line is none of it matters because it’s about preparing each day for one game that all of the games before and all of the games after are pretty much irrelevant. So on that day, who wants to strain the most, who wants to compete the most and then who does their job and relies on their teammates. That generally is the team that wins. So whether we won or lost that game, it wouldn’t really factor into this upcoming one, I don’t think.”
(Can you shed some light on where S Eric Rowe and DB Elijah Campbell stand right now? Those are two safeties that could be out on Saturday, right?) – “That’s right. So Elijah is currently in the concussion protocol. So you can ask the doctor about that one. And then as far as Rowe, I don’t think we will be seeing him on Saturday night.”
(You’re an introspective guy. That’s pretty clear. I wondered how much in recent weeks have you spent time thinking after games, the last couple of weeks, about how much of a running team you want to be? Obviously, you’ve passed the ball very well most of the season. It’s been a pass heavy team. Running the ball more, is that something you’ve given thought to after last couple of games?) – “I think one potential mistake that can come across a decision-maker’s board is at any time not critically assessing what and why of everything. That is no different than when we were on a winning streak for me. I’ve always valued the run game. I think you guys have followed my career enough to know that I’ve been involved in it and have always really seen the line of scrimmage as the place where games are won and lost. Whether you’re running or passing the ball, you are distributing it from the quarterback to another human being. So what is that? How does that affect the line of scrimmage? Because that’s the ultimate starting point for moving the ball, getting into scoring position and scoring points. I think that each game presents different obstacles and scenarios. So you look at everything and say, ‘Where’s our matchups? How can we do things well? And what gives us the best chance to win?’ I don’t think I’ve, really, this season felt like, me personally, that I’ve done the job I totally want to in that area. So it’s always a focus, but I don’t prioritize anything over what’s the best thing for the team for that game, regardless of how I wish or don’t wish to play football games. I think there’s an integrity part that you have to do what the best is for the team, and every time we lose, it’s very logical. I mean, you could make an argument that part of the reason we lost is because of that – because of decisions not to run it or whatever. That’s the case of the National Football League and the position that I’m in. I do prioritize it. I look at each and every week where we’re at and assess have we gotten better from the last? I know it was a light practice, but I feel like we have improved over the course of the season and specifically learned some very, very valuable lessons in this past game, where we can kind of control the line of scrimmage and possibly run the ball better. I think that when you’re able to control the clock and have the ball, that’s always an advantage so that won’t change. Hopefully, we’ll be happier with our output this coming week in the great weather.”
(How much progress has T Eric Fisher made with another week with the organization, albeit a short week?) – “Yeah, it’s a lot of progress, considering he went zero-to-60 really quick. He’s doing a good job, and you can tell he’s already assimilating into the locker room. When you’re a successful player for a long time like he has been, it’s a pretty steady process and then becomes very quick when you can take all the football you know, translate it into the language and then (understand) what is being emphasized. That’s generally what the process for offensive lineman, and he’s proven to be a very dedicated, quick thinker. I think he’s getting prepared and assimilating into the system and the team as fast as one could hope, really.”
(I’m doing something on advice and good advice people have received through their careers. Is there anything, off the top of your head, that someone has said to you that resonated and helped you or made you think differently?) – “Don’t lose. (laughter) No, it was – the first thought, I’m not sure relative on the scale how big this is, but the first thing that came to mind was a story that Coach Dan Quinn told me about never keeping any sort of piece of information about if something bothers you about a player or if you think they can improve, you have to let them know for their own sake so they can have the opportunity to fix it. There are sometimes that things can bother you about how somebody is going about something and the harm that it can do if you just assume that’s who that person is. If it bothers you enough, or just in general, you have to give them the opportunity to correct it before you judge really anything. He used a couple examples. The one that sticks out in my head was there was a guy on a team that he was on one time that had no idea that he was annoying a coach by the way he was dressing and would have corrected it if it was brought to his attention. I think that’s something that always stood out that you have to give people opportunities and it’s not fair to them, it’s actually quite the opposite, if you’re really judging anybody and how they behave without communicating with them and giving them an opportunity to fix anything.”
(A non-game related question. I’m working on a Christmas Day special. I spoke to some of your players yesterday, and I asked them if you could get a gift again that you received as a kid, what would you want? And the answers ranged from golf clubs, hockey stick and a Super Bowl win. So if I told you today, I’m going to interview Santa and talk to him. What would Mike McDaniel like, as a gift, and maybe something he received as a child he could get again?) – “I just went four different directions at the same time. So a gift that I received, that I would receive again? Or anything? If I could ever receive a gift again, one of the most magical Christmas gifts that I’ve ever had was in 2020, which my wife’s birthday is the day after Christmas, and so I’m always stressed out because it’s during the season, and I can never do it justice usually. Well, this Christmas, we were kicked out of California because of COVID, so we were in Glendale. And it was a rough time. It was a year after – we had a lot of expectations and it wasn’t going right. But that was the year, the first Christmas, that I had a daughter. That gift of family for me was very special, being an only child with a single mom. If I could ever experience something like that, talk to my wife and convince her that we should have a second kid, that would probably be the best gift I could get. (laughter)”
(I’m curious about the different way you relate to your players and your positivity. I’m just curious, there are coaches that read management books. Where do you get this from? Are you like a student of these management techniques? Are there coaches you emulate? Is this just kind of who you are based on your experience going back and dating back to your playing days in college?) – “There are certain things that I think I’ve been fortunate to be influenced by a lot of people. I also have a strong desire to do this job the right way, which I think is for the right reasons, which is to coach. So most of the stuff philosophically that I kind of do is reverse engineered. So what’s the desired outcome? Well, what am I really doing? And fixating on that probably in a super extreme way leads you to kind of think about things without looking at it like, ‘alright, well I’m mimicking something.’ I also grew up invested in football. But I didn’t really have a male role model. So I was kind of piecing together things as you go. A lot of failures. I think that combination of reverse engineering and then kind of approaching things without any sort of guide, you combine that with ambition and you just come up with your own formula that sticks to and never wavers from ‘am I making people better or worse.’ So that’s something that is exhausting in general, just because when you’re not following a roadmap, it lends to a lot of double-checking and second-guessing within yourself to make sure. But I think over time, you kind of realize it’s a lot simpler than people make it. Players, coaches, they want you to care. And if they see that you can help them achieve their dreams, they will listen to anyone that looks like anything and sounds or behaves whatever. The primary importance is are you adding value to those you work with? And as a head coach, that means everybody. So that’s where it starts and ends for me – problem solving in that direction. And then like I said, I was fortunate to see a lot of different coaches do a lot of different things, but never have I ever mimicked someone not out of intent, just because of learned behavior. I just try to do things for the right reasons. Sometimes that works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. But I think going at it at an exhaustive pace over time, you’ll end with the best results because again, people are counting on you to try to make them better. So that’s all I really worry about.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(Of course without S Brandon Jones for much of season, you lost one of your better blitzers. I was curious if you thought blitzing has worked with the effectiveness that you want the season?) – “We’ve got some production out of it. We’ve given up some plays on it. I think people are more in tune to some of the blitzes that we’ve run and some people have had pretty good answers to it. I think you can time some of it up, do it a little bit differently and then obviously, you’re always aware of who you’re sending and what their responsibilities could be or the reactions that you might get from an offense. So I think all that gets tied into it.”
(We have to ask you about the third-and-17, lining up the eight guys at or near the goal line. Just what your thought process? I’m just assuming it was to get them to stay out of the end zone on that play and then it sets up the…) – “Yeah, so there was a timeout on that play and look, let’s start with every play call of every game, I would say that there’s nobody more critical of it than myself. Like I would say the first play of the second series, I wasn’t very happy with that play call, but nobody that’s watching the game is going to think much of that call one way or the other. But to reference the third-and-17, yeah, I definitely think that I probably could have put the guys in a better situation than that. It was third-and-17, I didn’t want to give them a one-on-one shot into the end zone. That was kind of the thought process. We had a personnel grouping out there before that probably would have been a better call. Similar concept, but probably would have been better call. The timeout, I probably overthought it a little bit and obviously you’d like all your calls to work. I’m fine with the thought process. I wish I would have put them in a little bit better situation on that, but at the end of the day, we still had an opportunity to come off the field with no points because there was a play after that. I think you’re critical of every play call and that’s kind of how I look at it in every game. You go back and you look and I think that’s how you get better, is you go ‘Okay, well, your thought process was this. Why did you do this?’ I understood what my thought process was, but there’s probably about, a couple other calls that I could put in that situation that we probably would have got the same result of what I was trying to get with maybe putting us in a little bit better position to defend the screen in that situation. So yeah, absolutely. I put a lot of calls on myself.”
(Quick two-part question on CB Kader Kohou if I may. No. 1, how would you differentiate his work so far this season in the slot and outside? And No. 2, what about his skill set makes him effective in the slot?) – “I think a lot of times when – I would say just over the years coaching corners, a lot of times I look at them as corners whether you play them inside or outside. Now, that’s a little bit easier to do when you’re a heavier, call it man-scheme team. But a lot of things that happen for the inside corner, the slot, the nickel, whatever you want to call them; is it happens a little bit quicker, they’re usually more involved in run fits and there’s a little bit more communication that goes into it. I think Kader has done a good job with all that, handling that. I think he has a skill set to play on the inside and the outside. I think he’s still learning. I think he’s still improving. And the good news is he works hard, and he takes coaching very well. If you said, ‘Hey, we got to get better at this, we got to get better at this.’ He’s going to work really hard at that to do that. And I think he just has a competitive instinct in him and he has the ability to kind of track and find the ball and he’s been able to work through some things this year. But I think he’s been productive inside and outside.”
(You don’t see a lot – I don’t think I see a lot of interior defensive linemen across the NFL that play almost every down the way that DT Christian Wilkins and DT Zach Sieler have been this season. It seems like their snaps have increased a little bit since DE Emmanuel Ogbah went down, but overall just can you kind of speak to what they’ve been bringing to this defense and the interior of the defensive line?) – “Yeah, I would say, and you look at it, they probably both went from – Christian probably went from like 60 to about 80 percent and that’s a high percentage for a defensive tackle. And I would say Sieler’s has greatly increased from probably a year ago. Both of those guys are very productive. They do a lot of good things for us in the run game. They do a lot of good things in the pass game. I think it’s a testament to both of them, their physical condition, because not only are you capable of playing them that many plays; you could see them playing plays late in the game and they’re running 20 yards down the field to finish on plays. As long as they can sustain at a high level, we’re comfortable playing them, and obviously, they’re productive. So it’s a win-win. But again, it’s a testament to those guys. And the work that they put in, the recovery process that they go through. Both of them have played through injuries this season, both physically and mentally tough. And all the while, they’re playing with high effort every play that they’re out there, so we’ve been very fortunate with those guys and they’ve been very productive for us this year.”
(You mentioned at the beginning, when asking about the blitzing, that some things have worked and some things maybe haven’t been what you’d hoped. How much of an overall impact has that had on the success or failure of the defense this year?) – “You probably look at all the calls that you run whether you drop 8, you send 8, based on, ‘okay, how are we doing?’ Or if they don’t work, why don’t they work? And I think you kind of look at that and again, the things that you’re doing well, maybe you try to tweak it a little bit to make it look a little bit different, but it’s essentially the same concept. I think we’re attacking the ball, we’re getting guys running to the ball, the turnovers – we’ve got to keep stressing that and we’ve got to keep detailing that to try to get those to come up because that will help us a little bit. But I think we look at all of our calls whether it’s a blitz or whether it’s a zone pressure, a man pressure, a traditional coverage call. I think we look at all those things and the people that we have and putting the people in position, I think you’re always trying to set yourself up to defend what’s been presented to you if that makes sense.”
(The difference in home and away splits for this defense have been drastic. What theories do you have as to why this defense doesn’t travel well?) – “Whether we’re home or away, I think you’re always looking at – we don’t always get the desired outcomes that we’re looking for. I think there’s been times where we’ve played good segmented football on the road. I think there’s been times where obviously we haven’t played very well. But I do think there’s some instances where we’ve played really good football. I think it’s just to string together 60 minutes of good football, to allow our team to play complementary football, I think that’s what we’re striving to do whether we’re home or away.”
(Since the last time you guys played Buffalo, what are the big differences in your defense? I mean, S Brandon Jones is not there. I think CB Nik Needham might not be there. LB Bradley Chubb is there. You’ve had the games where you’ve been on the field for a long time. Two or three differences in the defense between then and now?) – “If you look at the last drive of that game, Brandon (Jones) was out there, Nik (Needham) was out there, Trey Flowers was out there, Emmanuel Ogbah was out there. Those guys are a little bit different, but that’s just the NFL season as it goes. You’re always going to have to handle attrition and move guys in, move guys around. I think you learn a lot about your team as you go and Buffalo has obviously won a lot of games, and they’ve won some close games, and they’ve found different ways to win games. And again, we’re going to have to be at our best this week to play a complementary game and to win this game in all three phases, because to beat a good team, you have to be able to play complementary football and for us, that will be a big part of getting off the field and getting the ball back to the offense and keeping field position when we have it.”
(And complementary football, and I’m not asking you to point any fingers or blame, but the offense on third down conversions hasn’t been good. They’ve had short drives, few plays. How much does that play into you guys being on the field for 79 plays or whatever?) – “It doesn’t. I mean we have an opportunity to get off the field defensively. So again, I think as defensive coaches, our sole focus is getting the ball back to the offense. When we have opportunities to maintain or keep good field position, we try to do that. I think very little of what we’re trying to do is affected by how they’re doing. It doesn’t really change our goal or our thought process. So I think for us, it’s definitely we have an opportunity to get off the field and we need to work to do that.”
(I’m doing a column on good advice people have received through their careers. Little off the beaten path here. So is there anything anybody said to you as you were coming through or it could be anything about managing careers, going against a specific defense, anything at all that jumps out to you?) – “Yeah, my high school baseball coach used to say all the time, and I probably didn’t understand it at the time: “You live life forward, but you understand it backwards.” That’s one of those things that’s kind of always stuck with me. The other thing that he used to say, too, because he was our defensive coordinator for the football team, is when we were running gassers. Now again, this was in high school. He’d be like, ‘You’re not going to die. You just think you are.’ (laughter) So those are the two quotes. Those are the two quotes that I really kind of remember, but I do believe you live life forward, but you seem to understand it a little bit backwards, which I think applies to pretty much everything. It applies to being a husband, applies to being a father, applies to being a football coach. That’s why you scour all your film and even self-scout yourself, so whether you were talking about blitzes, a third-and-17 call or anything like that; you go through that and you try to learn from everything because the idea is you put in all the hours and work to put the players in the best position to succeed. And I think all of it’s a process. The three easiest things to do in America, to me, are complain, make excuses or quit. And I think people that kind of forge through – and that’s from my father. He told me that at a young age, so that’s another thing that’s somebody had said to me, and I believe that because you see it a lot. People want to point fingers, make excuses, or that it gets too hard, they quit, or they just want to complain about things. And the older I get, the more people are like that, the less I really want to be around them, which is why I feel so fortunate about the locker room that we have, the coaching staff that we have. Everybody’s accountable, everybody looks at themselves first and I think that’s what you do. And as a play caller, that’s what I do. So I look at all the calls that we have, and here are the things that we can do better and then you always look at, okay, are we putting the guys in the best position? It’s just like when you prep for the week, and hopefully you’re living life forward but you understand it backwards and those lessons that you’re learning as you go, hopefully it makes you better as you move forward.”
(You have three healthy safeties unfortunately at the moment with DB Elijah Campbell in protocol, and obviously S Eric Rowe with the hamstring. Can any of your five corners play safety if needed – CB Noah Igbinoghene, CB Justin Bethel, DB Keion Crossen?) – “Sure, we cross-train guys quite a bit and every DB that will be active this week, we’ll have all hands on deck. I think that’s why you teach things from a conceptual standpoint and you move guys around the best you can when you can. You guys see us do that a lot in training camp and then obviously, as the season goes, you get specific with things as we go. But yeah, I think we’ll have everybody ready and available to play a multitude of responsibilities.”
(And kind of out of left field on this topic. But did you ever give thought – you, Cornerbacks Coach/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison, Head Coach Mike McDaniel – during the offseason, to having CB Noah Igbinoghene play safety? Is that a position you think he could play?) – “It hasn’t been a focus for him. I mean, most of his stuff has been at the corner position. There are some safety type roles that we’ve put him in before and that he does. I think he’s – obviously, we haven’t got to see him out on the field in the last three or four games, whatever it’s been. But he’s been working hard. He’s been making a lot of progress. And like I said before the Pittsburgh game, I’m excited to see what he does with his opportunities when they arise. I’ve been very pleased with his work ethic and the way he’s handled himself as a professional. It’s been outstanding.”
(I’m doing a profile on Head Coach Mike McDaniel. You worked under Bill Belichick. I’m curious, what’s the biggest difference between the way Coach McDaniel relates to players and Coach Belichick, and the way he relates to the coordinators?) – “That’s a good question. I haven’t really thought about it. I think everybody has their own approach. I would say the common ground between both of them is they’re both genuine. It’s different. I think both of their approaches is to get the best out of their players. And I think both of those guys, Bill and Mike, I think they do it very well. I think they’re just who they are … I think their personalities come out a little bit. I think the way that they approach and the way that they work at the game and making people better, I think is very similar.”
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(While giving away obviously nothing from the gameplan this week, in general I just wanted your thoughts on; when you see the type of defense the Chargers had, clogging the middle and heavy man, what generally is affected when countering that? The first couple of things that come to mind would be what?) – “Well, just in general from the Chargers game, I mean overall, for us, schematically, we’re looking at where we’re at. I wouldn’t say we’re sitting there going ‘These plays are not good versus that.’ I think ultimately it came down to a lot of our execution inside of it. I mean we had guys that, as they’re getting open within the timing of the play, sometimes we have a guy open and a protection breaks down. I think there were overall a multitude of factors. I wouldn’t say that ultimately we looked at that game and thought we’re getting out-schemed. I would say that we look at it and we were getting out-executed. Our details weren’t where we wanted them to be. And I think that was the challenge of the two-game stretch. When you go on the road, across the country, and things don’t work out the way that you want them to, coming back and understanding when you’re critical of yourself, starting with us as coaches. Are we putting ourselves in position schematically? Then we looked at it in the game and we saw execution errors and fundamentals that we can improve. I think ultimately that was our challenge this week to make sure that we – I know Mike (McDaniel) has hit on it too. If you look at it from the top down, just what we’re doing, the schematic things, then you get into fundamentals and technique, and that’s the emphasis for this week. That’s the challenge of the National Football League just because you come off a game like Cleveland and you’re feeling pretty good and then the next thing you know, you get humbled because you don’t get the execution that you want. But that’s the chase to stay on this goal for all of us is to make sure our execution is at the level we want to be able to take advantage of the plays that were there.”
(How different is this offense since the last time you guys played Buffalo? I guess at that time, you were just kind of figuring yourselves out and getting some confidence. Since then, you’ve had the five-game win streak, you’ve had some tough losses, different personnel, but two or three things that are different about this offense?) – “I would say that what’s different about the offense is just from the course of September to now is that you have the ebb and flow of the season. I think the biggest thing, like you stated, that you’re looking at that point in the season, we’ve had some guys coming in and out of the lineup. We’ve had some roster moves – some guys acquired and some guys have left. I think ultimately there was a time in November, obviously, we felt our execution was great, and right now, we’re obviously cleaning up some things that help us for our execution. I think that ultimately, you’re saying what’s different from now is just our experience playing together. Our experience through good times and bad. So we’ve had now the NFL season really coming to an end where now it’s kind of like, you know what you need to do for the next four games if you want to be in contention to continue your season. So ultimately, I think to your point, we started off, that was a very – that was a game where it was just our third game together, and now we’ve got basically through the quarter of four quarters of the season. So I think our experience and being a little more connected is something that would probably be the difference.”
(When we spoke in L.A., T Eric Fisher had barely gotten off the plane. Now that he’s had a little bit of time, do you feel comfortable putting him in if need be or if you choose to? And do you feel comfortable basically calling any play with him in there?) – “Yeah, I mean, (he’s a) true pro. His preparation is obviously top notch. We have all the confidence in what he’s done as far as preparation and working on his fundamentals. So he’s done an excellent job. You can see why he’s played at such a high level. It’s because of the detail to his preparation and his execution and how he takes the sense of urgency that everything matters. I think that’s ultimately, when you’re looking at a guy with his experience, that’s why he’s been so successful because he maximizes every opportunity and doesn’t waste a moment.”
(We’ve been making a big deal about the weather, and I’m wondering where you come down on that. Specifically with the Miami Dolphins, just considering everybody who plays for the Dolphins isn’t a South Florida native. They didn’t play college football here; guys have gone to Wisconsin, Purdue, all over the nation. So with the Miami Dolphins going up to Buffalo in cold weather, how big a deal is that and how could it affect the game? What are your thoughts on this?) – “Well, I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so I grew up in the subarctic. So knowing that (and) the differences to that, I’ve worked in Chicago, I’ve worked in New Orleans, I’ve worked for me personally, different parts of the regions of the country, count the West Coast last four years. So what’s the difference? It’s like the cold weather team coming to the warm weather – there’s an adjustment. But ultimately, it’s just understanding what every element is going to provide, and you make sure that in your preparation, you understand for it and you have the adequate resources you need. So I think – I mean, I remember back when we were in New Orleans in 2013. We were a dome team that couldn’t win a cold weather game, and it was this whole big deal, and we went to Philadelphia and handled our business. I think ultimately, it’s going to be about our guys coming together and understanding that there is a temperature difference, but it’s only a problem if you let it be a problem, like everything.”
(How much do the elements alter offensive scheme and play-calling, without getting specific of course?) – “Ultimately, from my familiarity of that area of the country and just northern states in wintertime in general, the weather could change tomorrow. So I think even (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) with his experience working there, it’s like, if you’re planning for one thing, the weather might change. I mean, I remember a couple times in Chicago, we thought we’re going to have a blizzard and then it turned out being 40 degrees. So it’s just one of those where you understand what elements could be, you understand how it can impact things, you have contingency plans for it and you just adjust to what occurs. But I mean, ultimately, it’ll be about our execution, regardless of what the climate is.”
(How much during a game do you – obviously there’s a lot going on for Head Coach Mike McDaniel calling plays, but how often do you give him input, suggestions on what he might want to run? Does he solicit that from you as the game is ongoing?) – “Yeah, we have conversations throughout the game. During the drive, in between them, we’re talking the whole time, pregame, postgame. It’s just kind of our dialogue we have as far as what we’re seeing (and) what we’re trying to attack in the defense. So yeah, I think the dialogue with (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) and I is constant, really. It probably honestly is never ending. It continually go seven days a week.”
(I’m doing something on good advice people received through their careers. It’s a little off the track here from what you’re talking about.) – “Yeah, surprise! (laughter) I was expecting another ‘it’s snowing’ question.”
(Have you heard any good advice about living in the winter?) – “Yeah, exactly. (laughter) Bring a coat.”
(Anything anybody said to you that stuck with you that you can pull up on immediate recall here?) – “Oh, yeah. I was a finance major, and it was my third year in college. I’m sitting in Finance 301 and I’m just looking at my exam. I have my financial calculator. I’ve got my charts. I’ve got all this stuff, and I’m looking at it and then I’m just going, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ And then as I look out, I see these two dudes throwing a frisbee back and forth – classic frat boys. I’m going like, ‘Man, I don’t know what those guys are doing, but they’ve got it figured out. They’re just having fun.’ I remember leaving that exam, going down to meet with my coach Terry Hoeppner, my head coach in college, and I just was like, ‘I don’t know what I want to do in life. I don’t think I want to be a business guy, because that’s what my dad was.’ And he goes, ‘Well, have you ever thought about coaching?’ And I looked at him like, ‘You think I’d be any good at it?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, you make all our calls, what you do well, communication skills, all (that) stuff.’ He went on to list some things about me that – I don’t handle praise real well, so I still like, right now I remember that moment, I’m going back to it going, like, ‘Alright, Coach, what do you think I should do?’ And he said then, ‘But if you get into coaching, there’s no guarantee you’re going to have financial success. Like, there’s no guarantee of anything. But if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.’ And ultimately, I was like, that makes sense to me. Because ultimately, my father was very successful. He worked his way up from being an accountant to the president of his company, and I got to see his career path. And when he was about 60 years old, he got fired for the first time and to see him through that time really figure out what he wanted to do in the back half of his career, and just seeing that through his financial success, there’s plenty of stress along the way. I just knew for me, I wanted to find something that I enjoyed every day. And back when I started being a graduate assistant for $800 a month, 10 months out of the year, which was fun trying to make sure I could pick up every recruiting dinner I could so I could have some extra money. (laughter) I just think that ultimately, it’s hard I think in your career to find a job that you love what you do, but coaching provides such an opportunity to really live that. When I was at Butler in 2009, I think I was making $32,000 at that point in my life and that was one of the best moments in my life. They were 0-11 in 2005, and then get there our first year and then four years later, we go 11-1 and win the conference and made a playoff game. There’s no monetary value to the connection you have with people that still lasts a lifetime. Because it’s funny, when the pro guys meet, they meet these random Butler guys along the way which is funny. They always look at them going like, ‘Their version of me at that time as opposed to all the pro guys,’ they’re like, ‘He was what?’ I was like 28 years old – I thought I had all the answers back then, so I was a little more fiery. But I think ultimately, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Fortunate enough for many of us coaches, we fulfill that every day.”
(Who was the coach you said that to?) – “Terry Hoeppner, he was my college head coach.”
(Did you live in Hepburn Hall?) – “I did. I did, I lived in Hepburn Hall. Corner room, I don’t remember the number, but I was in the corner left, and me and my roommate, Jacob Bell, he started eight years in the National Football League. I remember when I told him I was switching to go into coaching, he looked at me and was like, ‘You’re doing what?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do that.’ He was like, ‘Alright, man. I’m going to play in the National Football League.’ I’m like, ‘Well I’m glad you got your (expletive) figured out.”
(What if those guys weren’t playing frisbee that day?) – “I don’t know. I probably just would have looked out with despair and go like, ‘There is no hope.‘ (laughter) You’re taking me around the … thank God for the frisbee guys. So it’s moments in life – that’s probably for me, that was a life changing moment, because maybe they weren’t there and I don’t see that and I keep going and just think this is what it is and I go into finance doing God knows what right now. So I’m about as lucky of a story as you can have. I’m very fortunate.”
(I know one guy who has appreciation for RB Myles Gaskin is Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville, having worked with him the last three years. If he’s needed Saturday, obviously with RB Jeff Wilson Jr.’s hip, what skills have you grown to admire on field and off field about him?) – “Yeah, I think he’s really prepared himself. We have full confidence in him. There’s not like anything that we’re really thinking that, ‘Hey, we can’t do this with him.’ His preparation, his work ethic, I think he can step in the role and really fulfill what we need all of our backs to do with their skillsets.”
(I’m doing a profile on Head Coach Mike McDaniel, and I’m just sort of curious what’s sort of the biggest difference from working with him from all the other head coaches you’ve worked with?) – “Man, I thought I was just going to get weather and Bills. I’m getting life changing stuff. (laughter) Well, the one thing about (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) that is different – I mean, I’ve been fortunate, I have a real cross-spectrum of guys I’ve worked for. I worked for Sean Payton, John Fox, Jon Gruden, Brandon Staley and in college, Terry Hoeppner, I got to GA for him. He’s probably the most impactful person I’ve ever worked for. But I’d say that Mike, the one thing with him is his ability for this offense and to understand how to communicate and how to utilize our scheme and use it to attack defenses. Mike has excellent communication skills and his ability to see what the defense is doing and attack it. And then every day, he has such a positive approach. I mean, he’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever been around. Like you guys know, every day, you’re also going to laugh when you go to work for him, too. That’s not always true at some places. But I mean, ultimately, his communication skills of the scheme, his endless positivity and I think I can probably speak for most of the staff (that) we are fortunate enough to work here and most of us skip to work every day when you have a boss that is able to communicate through a positive approach every day.”
(When you say positive, is he complimenting you guys? Or is he just always thinking – what do you mean by that?) – “Well, ultimately, I can be standing in this room right now looking at it going like, ‘God, no one wants to show up for me?’ Or I could say like, ‘These are the guys that really love football.’ (laughter) I mean, it’s just how you view every situation. So I look at it like you can either see what you don’t have, what you need, but you’re always looking for an option to give you an out towards a situation or what’s occurring as opposed to attacking the situation with what you have, with relentless pursuit to try and get it the best you can. I just think that he always sees the moment for what it is, doesn’t make excuses and has such a positive approach to it, because when you do that, you’re always knowing there’s a chance as opposed to in the other way, when you’re pessimistic and kind of given these subtle outs, that’s just not the way he ever operates anything. It’s just how do we get to where we need to go with what we have and let’s make sure we have an energy and optimism to what we do because we’re fortunate enough to be here. We love what we do, and you can tell he loves coaching football.”
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I know this is a worn-out topic with K Jason Sanders, but a 55-yarder last week. Did he do anything differently? I know you’ve been saying confidence. At risk of a harsh response, did he do anything differently?) – “No. Again, he’s been the same guy all year. Just like we talked about last week and the week before that, it’s good to see what we see every single kick in practice on gameday now. So as I’ve said all along, (we have) complete confidence (in him). Like anything though, the made kicks always give you more confidence. It was good. It was an important kick. We needed it and he struck it very well.”
(With the potential weather conditions that are forecasted, wind, snow and whatnot, what discussions are you having with P Thomas Morstead and K Jason Sanders about?) – “We talk about all the situations and all the possibilities. One thing after spending some time (in Buffalo), it can change in a heartbeat and it could change – when we wake up in the hotel, what’s happening at the hotel downtown means nothing (compared to) what may be happening in Orchard Park. So you talk about what you may get. You look at it, you talk about it and then you just got to be able to go out and execute. You want to strike a good ball and then let the elements take care of what they’re going to do – you can’t control that. As long as we hit the ball well, the elements are going to do to the ball what the elements want to do – you can’t control that. What you can control is up until your foot hits the football and that’s what we’ll concentrate on.”
(Depending on where the wind is maybe blowing, are there conversations that you have with Head Coach Mike McDaniel about, “Hey, maybe we want to go this certain way in the first half because of the winds?”) – “There’s a lot of things. Five or 10 miles per hour wind in that stadium changes a lot of things. What direction is it coming from? Is it coming off the lake? So there’s a lot of things in that stadium because of how it’s built and how close it is to the lake that can be factors. But again, until you get there, we’ll talk about them, we’ll discuss them, but we’ll worry about it when we get there on game day.”
(You coached there for several years. You talked about the wind and all that. Does that give you “OK, when I get there, I need to look at this?”) – “Yeah, like anything, there’s a knowledge of what that stadium is and where there are certain things you expect. So without question, the more time you spend there under different circumstances in terms of weather, it gets you a little bit more prepared, I believe. But again, it comes down to execution. We’ll make the guys aware of it, we’ve looked at some tape of some different situations in terms of what could be when you talk about weather and then again, we’ve just got to go out and execute.”
(What was the toughest weather game you had up there?) – “Probably when we played Indianapolis one year with lake effect snow. Pregame there was no snow until about 20 minutes before gametime, and then we ended up playing in about eight inches. But again, you can’t control that. So you talk about it and you adapt to what you get.”
(In the event of heavy snow flurries, are you inclined to tell your receivers either don’t even try fielding the punt or just make sure you catch it and don’t worry about the return?) – “Again it’s the footing even before you get to the ball. There’s so many different things that can go into it that we just make them aware of all the scenarios and then to go out and No. 1 make good decisions but understand the circumstances of what you may have to do.”
(I guess you can’t just dust off the Week 3 gameplan and scouting report because the Bills acquired RB Nyheim Hines. What do you see from him?) – “He’s an outstanding player. (He’s) really special with the ball in his hands and has been since he’s been in the National Football League. They’re an outstanding team. They’ve done a great job building that team, offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. Obviously, to be able to go at the trade deadline and get a guy of that caliber to go along with what they’ve done and how they’ve built the team on offense and defense, it shows that on all three phases, they’re an outstanding club.”
(We’re making a huge deal about the weather. I’m wondering from your experience, how big a deal it is? Because my thought kind of is, everybody on the Dolphins didn’t grow up in South Florida and live here their wholes lives. There have been guys who have played – OL Michael Deiter grew up in Ohio and played at Wisconsin. WR Tyreek Hill played in Kansas City. So how big a factor is the cold weather for the Miami Dolphins specifically?) – “I don’t think it’s any bigger factor than for anybody, regardless of what team you are. We don’t get to practice in these certain elements, but everybody has seen them at some time, I’m sure, in their careers, and then you just adapt to it. You get a guy that’s never been in super-hot sun and humidity and he comes down here – it is what it’s going to be. We can’t control it, so we’re not going to worry about it. We’re going to worry about the things that we can control.”
