Thursday, November 14, 2024
TE Jonnu Smith
(I wanted to ask you about your big play in the fourth quarter, 33-yard catch and run that gets you guys down to the one-yard line. What did you think of the reaction you got from the sideline, from your coaches and teammates?) – “It’s always good to have that camaraderie behind you, that support behind you. Any of us make big plays, we always want to rally behind them especially when you’re on the road. So to get that momentum going and for a touchdown to follow up after that, that was big for us and we came out with the win on top.”
(How much pride do you take in playing tough – breaking tackles, doing whatever you need to do to get the job done?) – “It’s a physical sport. If you want to make big plays, it’s a certain level of physicality that you’ve got to possess. I understand that part.”
(WR Tyreek Hill said thank you but that you need to get in next time.) – “Yeah, (laughter) I’ve got to find a way to get in there. He definitely should be thanking me. But I’ve got to find a way to get in there. I’m just glad we came out with a touchdown on that drive. That’s all that mattered to me, whoever got it.”
(How do you guys keep the momentum up for the Raiders on Sunday?) – “Just continue to keep doing what we’re doing. I’ll say this. I understand the beginning of the season for us has not been what we expected, what obviously a lot of people expected, but we never wavered. The way we come in and our intent towards work, it never changed. Nothing changed last week from the week (before). It just unfortunately hasn’t been going our way. We’re just staying to course, keep chopping wood and just trying to get this thing going in the right direction.”
(There has been no tight end better than you at YAC [yards after catch] these last three years. How much of that part of your game do you take pride in?) – “You said the last four years?”
(Five years, six years…) – “Six? I’m going to keep going. (laughter) No, I don’t even know what stat that is, but I would like to see it though. There is just a certain level of physicality that you have when you’re running that ball. You got to become a running back with the ball in your hands. As a ball carrier whether you’re a receiver, tight end, quarterback, running back; to make big plays in this league it’s a mindset. So that’s just the element that I try to bring to this team and to help us be in a better situation.”
(Is YAC acknowledged in meetings here like with Head Coach Mike McDaniel, or Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith, or Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree or someone say something about good YAC plays in particular?) – “Quite a bit, quite a bit, quite a bit. That’s definitely a point of emphasis. We know who we have in this offense. We know the ability that we’ve got, so there is a certain standard and level of expectation that is demanded form us that probably wouldn’t be demanded form other players.”
(Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree said a few things, but you probably can’t repeat them on the sidelines.) – “’Embo’ – that’s my guy. That’s my guy. Definitely. I didn’t see it, but I heard all about his reaction from the sideline. They said that he had like a mini heart attack after the play. So like I said, just to get that moral going, just to get that energy up; that is definitely big for the team. No matter who, it could be anybody’s play. We just need more plays like that down the stretch and we will be in good position.”
(With respect to vets like you and TE Durham Smythe what responsibility do you feel when a veteran or new player is brought into your room? Like with TE Jack Stroll do you and Durham say, “text me if you have any questions” to him?) – “Absolutely. That comes with the territory. You’ve got to make yourself available to guys that you may have more experience than. It’s an honor to be in the position that I’m in. I wear it proudly. I’ve always since my years have been getting up there in the league – listen, I don’t consider myself old – you’ve got guys who have been playing 15, 16, 17 years, but I understand that an eight-year NFL veteran I understand is definitely, you’ve got your stripes. But everybody likes to put the ‘older guy mark’ on it. But I still feel young. I still look young so doing something right. But you’ve just got to make yourself available and do what you’re supposed to do always. If you do what you’re supposed to do, everything else will come with it. That’s part of being a leader. Doing your job first, worrying about what you’ve got to do, being accountable, respecting others, respecting your teammates, respecting the building, respecting the standard, and you got to make plays. You don’t get this far in the league without doing that. Just try to continue passing on that message to every guy that’s younger than me.”
Thursday, November 14, 2024
DT Calais Campbell
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel had a lot of praise for you yesterday. How good does it feel when you hear him call you the Tom Brady of defense linemen?) – “It feels good. I’m glad that Coach (McDaniel) believes in me. I’m glad I’m here and I’m still able to play this game I love. Obviously this is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ business and I’ve got to go out there and perform again this week. Otherwise it’s a different tune, that’s just how it goes. I’ve learned that through my experience, but it is cool to see Coach show a lot of love though.”
(What is your reaction when you hear so many people surprised that you’re playing at this level this far into your season?) – “Well I work really hard, so I’m not surprised. I feel like my preparation and just the dedication I put into this game, I expected to do well. If I can’t go out there and dominate, I don’t think I’m going to play anymore. I want to play at an elite level and so I definitely put the time and effort to do that, so it feels good to be able to do it and other people recognizing it is nice, too, but at the end of the day, it’s got to carry over to winning ball games.”
(During the broadcast on Monday I think from their production meeting either Joe Buck or Troy Aikman said that you mentioned you’re treating this year like your last. Do you think this year could be your last? You’ve played so well. Do you think you want to squeeze another year or two out of yourself?) – “I’ve always been in the mindset of leave everything on the field, burn rubber and just go as hard as I can go, and then when the offseason comes, I figure out next year when that comes. That’s how it’s been quite of a few of the last few years. Next year doesn’t even exist to me right now, so I’m playing this year as if it’s my last and I’m trying to do everything I can to empty the tank and give the game my all. If the offseason comes around and I feel good still, then we’ll figure it out then.”
(Can you think one thing that Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver says or does in his approach that is a little bit unique?) – “I don’t know, I think having a player experience – he played eight years in the league – I think that helps him a little bit just being relatable and communicating to the guys. I think he has a good balance of showing love and then kind of being hard on guys and just trying to find that balance of encouragement and then accountability, but he does a great job. He’s a phenomenal coach, great leader. I think his passion for the game and his desire to win is what separates him, which I think everybody that does anything wants that but he just does it at an elite level.”
(He’ll be a head coach?) – “Oh yeah, without a doubt in my mind. Very soon and I think he’ll be a great head coach.”
(Was there ever a moment on the sideline for you guys where you guys are just chilling without talking to each other, just relaxing? Because I haven’t seen it yet.) – “That’s not really football. (laughter) We’re relaxing in the offseason and maybe on the day off, get a little relax time, but while there’s time on the clock, we’re always working to figure out how we can be better. I’ll get a little oxygen to catch my breath, but no, we’re always trying to figure out how we can win a ball game. This year we gave up 10-point leads multiple times and have to fight and claw back from behind, so you realize just every moment is precious and you have to always be working towards winning the ball game.”
(How much do you set the tone for younger guys with that type of thought because I see everybody engaged?) – “Yeah, it’s important. That’s part of my role is to set the tone and be an example for the young guys, a mentorship role and just making sure I communicate to them like what it takes to be successful and be a pro. We have a lot of young guys that we’re dependent on and they’ve been playing really good ball for us, but you got to stay on them. You can’t relax. This is a long season. You get 17 games guaranteed as a team and the goal is to be able to get to the playoffs with that. We dug ourselves into a big hole so our margin for error is already very low, so we don’t have time to try to go through growing pains anymore. We have to be on point.”
(You had a year with DeShon Elliott in Baltimore. You’re on this year’s Dolphins team now. What did you think when you heard his comments about last year’s team – a lot of players which are now on this team – that last year’s team was soft?) – “Anybody can say anything. Define ‘soft’ – I think the guys I’m going to war with every day, I believe in. I know they’re tough and we’re going to show it. Just we’re in a critical part of our season and I feel like guys are locking in and building that mental toughness you need to go and make a run. At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t do anything though, but DeShon (Elliott), a guy I like, a guy that was a good teammate when I was teammates with him; his opinion for us doesn’t matter. His opinion, it means nothing to me.”
Thursday, November 14, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(As you’ve gone through everything with the wrist, has surgery ever been a consideration? Will you need do you think at some point?) – “Yeah, but I’ve been talking to a lot of people about this particular injury. At the end of the day, I just got to suck it up and just deal with the pain. It’s going to get worse the more I play, but I got get it out for my team. I’m here, I’m locked in no matter what, no matter how I feel. So even if I’ve got to cut my wrist off, I’m still out there because I love the game of football. Surgery was brought up and it was talked about whenever I talked to a few of the doctors, but it’s my call at the end of the day and my call is to stay out on the field.”
(Is it likely going to be needed in the offseason? Or does it depend on how it heals?) – “When that time comes around, I’m sure I’ll be in a good space to make that decision, but right now I’m not going to just give you a straight-out answer.”
(Everybody knows your obvious talent, the No. 1 player in the league voted by your peers. When you look at your numbers this year, what do you think?) – “I feel like for me, I feel like I took a step forward in my game. Our position coach, he has helped me develop becoming a full receiver which is blocking, being stronger at the catch point, running precise routes and stuff like that. A lot of people look at the numbers and say, ‘Oh, he was this and that,’ but I feel like as a player, I’ve gotten better. As a leader, I’ve gotten better, and I just feel like I’ve gotten better in that sense.”
(The constant two-high safety defenses, is that just taking away the deep passes this year?) – “I wouldn’t say that because there are ways, there are plays that you can build to go deep, man, But whenever that time comes, it’ll come. If we’ve got to run the ball 40 times to make teams believe we’re going to run the ball, then me and ‘J-Dub’ (Jaylen Waddle) – well, I’m going to speak for myself, Imma block my tail off.”
(What did that TE Jonnu Smith play, breaking tackles, getting down to the one-yard line, what’d that do for you? How did you react to that?) – “I was turned up, bruh. I like to see Jonnu (Smith), man, big play ability. That’s something we’ve been waiting on all year from Jonnu. He put it on tape with the Falcons, he put it on tape with the Titans and for him to be able to continue to make plays in this league like that, running through linebackers is impressive for a guy his size. I told him, ‘Look man, you got to find a way next time because you gave me the touchdown. I appreciate it though.’”
(To get the story straight with the injury from the beginning, what was the original injury going back to the preseason?) – “It was just like a small, little wrist injury. Nothing too crazy.”
(And then it got aggravated in the Week 1 detainment?) – “No, I wouldn’t say – I’d say Commanders week, when we had that joint practice; red zone play.”
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(Could you please explain why the team claimed TE Jack Stoll?) – “It was like always when you’re going through the process of the season, when guys appear on the wire and you’re able to claim them, the opportunity presented itself. Sometimes guys are available and you just don’t have roster space because of needs of the week, and when you have the extra space, you’re able to acquire a guy, maybe that you weren’t necessarily thinking tight end or whatever. But yeah, we’re excited to be able to have him here and look forward to adding him to the roster.”
(His skill set, could you address what he does well?) – “When you look for big athletes at tight end, guys who move well, blocking, special teams, he has a versatility that helps us at the position gain depth and ultimately impact in all three phases of what a tight end we’re going to ask him to do.”
(Did you see Associate Head Coach/Tight Ends Coach Jon Embree’s reaction after that TE Jonnu Smith play? And what was yours? Did you jump out of your seat there?) – “Yeah, I can’t say what I said in the press box. (laughter) So the greatest thing about Jonnu (Smith) is that’s the value he adds to the team. You have the wide receiver skill set, when you the tight end skill set that once you get the ball in their hands, they wreck shop, it’s fun to watch.”
(How do you evaluate the inline blocking from the tight end position so far this season?) – “I think that early in the season, there were certain things that we had to improve on and we’ve gotten better at it. I don’t really take a whole lot of stock into other outside opinions into what they say or what that is. The reality is what we see and what we’re asking to do, so when you man reach at the point of attack and put No. 97 in the dirt by yourself, that’s pretty good – that’s hard to do. Or you take No. 8, one of their better players and you’re able to stretch and move him to on the numbers to outside, that’s not easy to do at the position. So ultimately for me, Julian (Hill) particularly, his growth has been in the last month is good, especially coming back off the shoulder, and Durham (Smythe) is doing what we ask him to do and playing off, especially last week when we needed it with Julian down. And then Jonnu (Smith) is really growing in that role now with the pass game, all the variables, that’s always hardest for the pass game tight end. So overall, I think our guys are doing what we’re asking them to do. There’s been a lot of growth in the last month and I think we’re going to use that to build in the next part of the season.”
(The identity of this offense last year, last couple of years was speed, quick strike, downfield and it seems to be taken away, is that how you’d explain why you’re not getting the downfield passes? Are defenses just saying, “We’re not going to let that happen?”) – “I think ultimately our job is to score points and win the game, and how we do that – one year you’d say, ‘Hey, you do this,’ another year, ‘OK, are we moving the ball and efficient and scoring points?’ The thing ultimately, if defenses are defending in a way that you can get four-play drives to touchdowns, great off of explosive plays. If they’re trying to mitigate that, now we have to work and maybe have more efficiency as we go down the field, then that’s the way it’s got to play. I think that’s the good thing that we’ve seen lately is if they’re trying to defend the deep part of the field and trying to take areas away, they’re also vulnerable in other areas. I think that’s the growth that a lot of us have seen here in the last month is that we’re attacking the defense, and each week we sometimes get different things than other teams and that’s where we have to adjust. I think our guys have done a great job expecting to know that you can’t rely on just one thing. The variabilities that we’ll see will take all of us to work together to get it done, so I think that’s the goal.”
(How would you assess T Kendall Lamm starting at right tackle?) – “I think he was executing what we’re asking him to do, worked well with Liam (Eichenberg). There’s a couple things though I know that run game wise later in the game, there’s stuff we did earlier in the first half that I’ll look at as coaching that we could have gotten back to that we had. We had that bigger run that was 15 yards off the outside zone that we didn’t get back to. We got to its complement off inside zone that gained five or six. Going back to a couple things earlier that worked, but ultimately, I think Kendall stepped up – Monday Night Football, as the line did and they’re executing the game plan against a very good defensive line that I think in about two or three years, a couple of those guys will be high-profile guys in the league because they’re rookies this year.”
(Do you think you’ll have OL Isaiah Wynn available this week?) – “As far as availability, when guys are cleared through all the medical process, they’ll be available. I don’t really have timelines for that as far as when or where, it’s just what are we able to do for the game and who’s available? We’ll decide after we get through Friday, Saturday.”
(What are you thinking for OL Isaiah Wynn when he does become available?) – “I think when he becomes available, we’ll look at where we’re at. Sometimes if you’re completely healthy, how does it work, and if you have natural parts of the season where you’re sitting there, you’re going like, ‘OK, wow. This is the fit.’ So I think ultimately it’s when he’s ready to go and all those things are a part of the process. We’ll have to evaluate where we’re at completely, whether that’s this week, next week, whatever as we go.”
(If I would have told you at the start of the season that WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill would have averaged a combine 91 yards to start the season, what would you have said?) – “I think that would have been like, ‘Yikes. OK, there’s certain things that must be occurring.’ It’s not as limited to, ‘OK, why did that happen?’ And then when you look at our season, you wouldn’t say it’s really been normal so far; at the beginning, there are a lot of things that took place. I would say that if that’s how this starts at beginning, how do we end? You can either say, ‘The beginning,’ and that’s defining of who you are, or you say, ‘All right, how do we finish?’ That’s the important thing for this year is to build upon what we’ve learned to make sure we maximize it each week, and we’ll need it this week versus the Raiders.”
(A football player is never going to come out and say, “Yeah I’m injured and that’s why my performance is suffering,” you just don’t hear that. But given that WR Tyreek Hill has a wrist injury, how much is that affecting his performance do you think?) – “I think like you said, guys are always dealing with certain things and they’re the measuring stick as to knowing their bodies and when they can go and perform. Ultimately, you trust their ability to know themselves and when they can go out to perform and when they can’t. But you got to credit to him for, like everything, the NFL season is not easy and each week presents a new challenge. For him to be able to be pushing through all the things and giving his best week-in, week-out, there’s nothing more you can ask for as a coach.”
(I know you guys don’t want to make excuses, but it occurs to me that this is the longest time QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle have been together, right? Because training camp Tua had the hold-in, Tyreek had the thumb, I think Waddle had the hamstring or whatever, then Tua gets the concussion. Is that accurate and does that serve as kind of good things are to come as they spend more time together?) – “I love the optimism. (laughter) I think ultimately, yeah – there’s truth in whatever you’ll give yourself. However we are what we are record wise, we are where we’re at in the season, and now we’ve got to band together and continue to make each day count as we want to get back into a real competitive fight within the division and the AFC. So I think that each week that we can get continuity always helps and ultimately, when you go through the adversity, what did you learn, how does it help you for each week because when things are easy, you go through prosperity – that’s sometimes more challenging that adversity. It’s a different kind of push, so this year the adversity, we learned a lot and then make sure now we’re using each week as we’re playing together to get back in the hunt.”
(I wanted to ask you about T Patrick Paul in terms of his development. Knowing he’s one of the biggest offensive linemen I’ve ever seen, probably just under Bryant McKinnie. Is it more beneficial for him to cross train and play right tackle or more beneficial to cross train and work as left guard because you have limited options at both spots?) – “Interesting question. I would think that for us, it’s like the range and the length really bodes well to outside because it’s the foot, the ability to kick and to cover space that bodes well to playing tackle. So it’s better in that realm to be flexing on both sides as opposed to some guys who have different skill sets (that) we can move more inside and they can stay on their side. So when you have to flip sides, it cerates a little bit more stress because it’s one side versus the other, dominant foot and non-dominant, all kinds of stuff like that. He’s embracing it, but I think for him it’s tackle to tackle where we’re going to keep him.”
(What did you think of OL Lester Cotton getting thrown in there? And you’re confident in him if he has to start this week?) – “Yeah, he came in and was executing. It’s always hard when you come out in the middle of the game to get into the swing of things before. We have confidence in him and all the other guys, and the biggest thing is as we get through the week, make sure we have the guys who are ready to go and they’re connected in the game plan and communicating together.”
(Going back to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that they have still made an impact even when the ball isn’t in their hands, whether that’s blocking or whatever.) – “That’s correct.”
(Is that something that you guys have had to ask them to do more of or is that them volunteering to kind of take on more outside of the regular ball catching duty?) – “It’s them being great teammates for the rest of the guys around them and knowing that coverages, defenses we’re getting, our ability to block and run the football helps change coverages if you’re able to block and do all those things. They’ve been outstanding in their willingness to do it and the different forms of stuff we’ve been asking them to do.”
(I liked OL Liam Eichenberg’s penalty that he drew.) – “Liam (Eichenberg) is a funny guy.”
(I don’t get to hear what he says, it seems that he annoys the opponent. Is that right?) – “I don’t know exactly due to me being in the fishbowl watching the game way up high, but his intensity and the way he plays, I’m sure he has fun with the process. I don’t know exactly but I can imagine.”
(He claimed there was no acting on that play, that he actually did headbutt him pretty hard. If you had a close friend, who maybe wasn’t an intense football fan but just came to you and asked, “So when QB Tua Tagovailoa throws an interception—”) – “That doesn’t sound like a friend I’d have though, Barry. (laughter)”
(OK someone who’s not an intense football fan, maybe someone who’s a marginal fan, and he asks you–) – “Still doesn’t sound like somebody I’d be around.”
(When QB Tua Tagovailoa throws a pick, why don’t you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel tell him, “Either avoid the play altogether with making a tackle, or merely push him out of bounds but do nothing else that doesn’t involve your hands.” What would your answer be to him as to why the organization does not tell him to do that?) – “I’d be like, ‘This is why I don’t have friends who are marginal football fans.’ (laughter) We covered that topic and the guys have too. Ultimately, our goal is to not have turnovers, and if we don’t have turnovers and we’re working together we can avoid these situations of what ifs. I think ultimately, our goal is to play turnover-free football, penalty-free football and that’s the goal, and be efficient in what we do if we do that, we can avoid certain things and we’ll be OK.”
(On the touchdown to WR Tyreek Hill, he mentioned that he acted like he was going to block. That’s usually like a tight end type of deal, right? That’s how you affect the game?) – “Yeah, when you’re down in the red zone and you’re trying to run the ball in in sets that look like you’re running the football, that bodes well to quick play action. So I think that’s the other thing like we’re talking about when you’re getting engaged in blocking and all those areas, do you now get opportunities that tight ends would normally get because of our blocking stuff? So yeah that was a play we’ve had up for – I think it was up the week or two before, and it was a perfectly called at the time just because they we’re going big personnel group, trying to stop the run and a run-action made it a great execution by ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill) to get the ball and all the guys to score.”
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(I’m sure we’ll have a lot of questions about the great job you and the group did on Monday, but just to get one housekeeping thing out of the way, did David Long Jr. ask for his release or did he express to you, Head Coach Mike McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier that he would prefer to be in a place where he could play?) – “I think that was just a team decision. Obviously we have a tremendous amount of love and respect for ‘Dave’ (David Long Jr.). He is a starting-caliber NFL backer and at this particular time we know we chose to go with ‘Walk’ (Anthony Walker Jr.) so it was probably the best move for just all parties involved. It gives him a chance to continue his NFL career and go flourish elsewhere but incredibly grateful for his time here for sure.”
(Did he ask for his release?) – “That I don’t know. You’d have to talk to – that’s above my paygrade.”
(With LB Tyrel Dodson what do you think that he can add to this defense?) – “I think the first thing is that he has scheme familiarity coming from Seattle, right, with the defense that Mike (Macdonald) installed and he’s a playmaker, right? You’ve seen it on tape. He flies around, he hunts the football, and he can contribute on special teams, too. So he introduced himself to the defense and you could feel his energy and his passion, and any time you’ve got guys that have that on defense, those are the type of guys you’re looking for.”
(What kind of chip on your shoulder do you get when you’re waived as the leading tackler from another team?) – “I couldn’t tell you. It’s never happened to me, but any time you get fired or released or cut from a job, I imagine you have a chip, right, that I don’t care what profession you’re in. I imagine he wished Seattle was still on our schedule and we hadn’t played them already and that’s usually when those things become most apparent.”
(Obviously going without CB Kendall Fuller now Sunday and perhaps beyond, has CB Cam Smith done enough – this is kind of like what I asked you last week – but has Cam done enough where you say, going into this game, “he is our third corner with CB Kader Kohou and with CB Jalen Ramsey” or have the struggles been such that you open up the competition and say “we need a fresh look in CB Storm Duck, CB Ethan Bonner and CB Siran Neal”?) – “I don’t necessarily think it’s a struggle for Cam. I just think you’re just going through some growing pains from a younger player. Who plays in place of Kendall (Fuller), I think it’s very much a competition. Prior too, guys like Storm (Duck) were hurt. Storm Duck was hurt, Kader Kohou was hurt. So Cam went out there and did a an admirable job, right, especially just considering how much practice time he had missed, so that competition in that position will certainly be up for grabs this week. We’ll look how the guys compete throughout the week and I expect him to be near the top because that’s the type of guy that he is. He’s going to go out there and give everything he has to earn that starting spot.”
(I have a question about Tampa 2 coverage. It seems like it’s more prominent now than it has been in recent years after it was really popular in the early 2000s. Is that accurate and why do you think it’s more popular now?) – “I don’t know from a numbers standpoint where it is in the league. All you’re ever trying to do is try to figure out conceptually what you’re getting from a route standpoint and put as many bodies in those windows to try to dissuade those routes. I think it’s one of those coverages where you can get to it from a variety of different ways and sometimes when you’re maneuvering the safeties and showing the middle close and then all of a sudden it’s open, showing (Cover) 0 and then all of a sudden it’s Tampa 2, there’s a bunch of things you can do to essentially slow the quarterback’s decision-making down a little bit when you can play Tampa variations and then mix it with some middle close zones and fire zones and things of that nature.”
(So CB Storm Duck was cleared, good to go at the point to the injury report but then he was still inactive. Was that still maybe dealing with some remnants of the ankle issue?) – “Yeah, I think it’s one of those things where he’s still very much trying to get confidence back in that ankle. But we see from a competition standpoint, we see the same guy he’s always been. He’s going out there, he’s working, trying to work through it. At that particular time we just felt like with Cam (Smith), he’s got a number of reps. He went out there and did, again, a very serviceable job versus Buffalo so we felt confident with him going in that last game.”
(What pleased you most when you studied the film in a game in which you held the Rams without a touchdown?) – “I was just most pleased with just the collective effort of the group, particularly the situation where we were at. You’re sitting at 2-6. You had every opportunity to go across the country and feel bad for yourself, but our guys didn’t do that. They answered the call. They stuck together, they endured and I think we went out there and had our best performance to date so I applaud those guys. We have a bunch of grown men who are willing to look adversity straight in the face and throw their best punch.”
(What did you see from a communication standpoint?) – “Yeah, again, I think on all levels it was our best game to date. It obviously helps, you have some connectivity there with guys that have played a bunch of ball – with Kader Kohou coming back, Jevón Holland, Zach Sieler. Outside of the players that they are, there’s just so many cumulative reps that they’ve all played in meaningful games. So when you get those guys back and it’s a guy on every level, obviously that’s going to help step up your communication, too, so I think it was certainly our best game to date. We had very minimal errors and the ones we did have really didn’t hurt us.”
(What do you think when you look at Raiders TE Brock Bowers for them and maybe ways to defend that tight end?) – “Oh man, that guy, I’ll tell you what. I don’t want to slap ‘Rookie of the Year’ on him yet, but he is an absolute force. He as a tight end – shoot, you could probably put him a tailback, you can play him anywhere you want. So we’ve certainly got to account for him the entire day, particularly in critical situations. You have to think that (he is) a guy that he’s going to target, but what an incredible player. I look forward to just seeing the trajectory of career and where he goes.”
(Back to CB Kader Kohou for a second, I noticed some reps where he was peeling off into the deep path on some of your two-high looks and I was wondering what is the process for trying to decipher how much a player can put on their plate? Because he’s played inside, he’s played outside, he’s getting back at some depth now. Like what goes into that process of deciding if guys can do that?) – “That’s certainly something you’re trying to figure out all throughout the offseason. We tried very much to – when we’re installing to our players – we try to teach part to whole, so we don’t just try to pigeonhole and say like, ‘you’re just a nickel.’ We try to learn like, ‘here’s a curl flat technique, here’s a seam-and-a-half technique, here’s a three-hole technique.’ And we teach everybody the jobs. And then whoever can learn the bulk of those jobs and as many of them as they can retain, we’re like, ‘All right, this guy we can do a bunch with. Like he can play all these techniques fairly well.’ So the more our guys understand the big picture of what we’re trying to do conceptually, the more problems we can present to an offense because we’re able to morph and they can’t just say like, ‘That’s the nickel. He always does this.’ ‘Jalen Ramsey, he’s a corner, he always does this.’ You have no idea where our guys are going to be which I think is what makes it hard to play offense against us.”
(Would it be fair to say that this team is kind of sort of morphing into a defensive team?) – “No, no, I’m not saying that. We have a tremendous amount of pride on our side of ball obviously and every time we go out there, we have a standard that we expect to live up to. We don’t want people to score. But with the talent we have on the other side of the ball, we are very much a team. So to say that we’re an offensive or defensive team, I don’t think that’s fair at all. We’re just trying to make sure we hold up our end of the bargain come game day.”
(How do you guys carry over the momentum from Monday to next week?) – “This league is about enduring and getting better. I talked to the guys about just having faith in the middle of the season. It’s so long and it’s so grueling that it exposes the frauds and if you’re not willing to push yourself and constantly get better throughout, then you’ll have a failing season in the end. So while our record certainly isn’t what we want, I told the guys like, ‘if you thought we were a playoff team coming into the year, then raise your hand.’ I was like, ‘well, the playoffs just started a little bit sooner for us.’ So we got some pieces back, we got our quarterback out there and let’s go on a run. So we’re not overlooking the Raiders by any means and right now, we have a very magnified focus on our opponent ahead.”
(DeShon Elliott said that this team was soft last year. I know you weren’t here. Has that come up in meetings? Do you want your team to take that to heart or just kind of disregard it?) – “I know DeShon. Obviously respect who he is as a player. I don’t think any man that walks on that field and plays this game is ‘soft.’ So I know the guys in that locker room. I know the passion and the physicality and the tenacity that they play with. So the fact that he feels that way, hey, God bless him, but we have an opportunity to go and get rid of that whatever, ‘softness’ phrase or whatever the heck he wants to say. We get an opportunity every Sunday to change that.”
(There is a different brand of football in the AFC North. I think everybody understands that…) – “Yeah, because what is there to do in those towns? (laughter) Going to go eat crab cakes. Of course, you’re going to play football and go eat crab cakes. What else are you going to do? Of course it’s a different brand of football. I’m joking. I’m never going to be welcome back to Baltimore again. (laughter)”
(Why is it different football in that division?) – “I think it probably starts with just the majority of the teams in that division when you think about the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals; for the most part, they’ve had consistency. Both from a head coaching standpoint and a front office standpoint, so how those teams have been built has been consistent for a number of decades now, right? The one exception in that division is the Browns, and they’ve had the issues they’ve had probably as a result. So I think that’s probably the biggest reason that their style of play has been consistent. Now, if you had turnover in the front office and people came in with different philosophies, then maybe it changes, but when you have Ozzie Newsome and I forget who the new guy in Pittsburgh is, and Mike Tomlin is still there, obviously, like they have very clear visions and philosophies of how they want their teams to be built. And I think that’s the type of brand of football they’re all looking to play.”
(When a player isn’t being exactly what you want from a scheme perspective, a technique perspective, an assignment perspective or maybe they’re on the verge of being benched or losing playing time, what approach do you take in the communication with guys who maybe aren’t doing their best?) – “I think you do everything within your power first to coach and to teach and try to find if one way is not working where you’re not getting through to them to get them to execute the job that you want them to do, you go through multiple facets to try to get that done. If you can’t, that’s when you start exploring other options to then make a change. The one thing we’re never going to do here is give up on a player. So we’ll do everything within our abilities to try to get them to go out there and communicate and execute at a high level.”
(LB Quinton Bell got an increase in defensive snaps, got the sack of course. It seems like those snaps came at the expense of LB Tyus Bowser’s a little bit. What led to the decisions on playing time on the edge?) – “I don’t know if it came really at the expense of anybody. The plan going in was to roll those guys a little bit more just because we all believe they had earned it. They go out there and they’d shown it throughout the week of practice, particularly ‘Q’ (Quinton Bell), Tyus (Bowser), (Emmanuel) Ogbah, Chop (Robinson) – all those guys – they push each other to get better and I think collectively that room is getting better as a result. So to have any of those guys just sitting on the bench I think does a disservice to the team, particularly when you get to this point of the season. You want to make sure everybody’s out there, rolling, getting reps so we can be fresh throughout this entire push.”
(Do you have to have a conversation with a conversation with the guy who plays opposite CB Jalen Ramsey that basically, “hey, you’re going to be attacked” because they’re going to generally try to avoid Jalen?) – “I don’t think that conversation needs to be had. The one thing that I know for sure is if you’re out there and you’re playing in this league, you are an incredibly confident human being. And if you’re not, that’s usually when you’re struggling and we’ve got to find a way to build that confidence back up, so I know every one of those guys that touch that field for us, they think that they’re Superman and they should because they are the elite of the elite and go out there and play with that same swag and confidence every day.”
(In terms of defensive backs who played the fifth and sixth-most on Sunday, just to go back to that, the one thing I hadn’t brought up was the scenario of S Jevón Holland in the slot and S Marcus Maye with S Jordan Poyer – is that something that you don’t want to do in huge volume because you like what Jevón gives you at safety and because CB Kader Kohou is so effective in the slot? Or is that a real consideration, those three for a ton of snaps together?) – “I think that’s more just a matter of matchup, right? When you’re trying to match up and potentially have a bigger body in the slot. The thing with us, we can put Jalen there, who is a big body and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty in the run game. He’ll fill a B-gap. He can do all those jobs and we feel the same way about Jevón, so it’s really about just match ups and who can we put on the outside? Do we feel comfortable with the matchup there if we move Jalen inside and if we need Jalen on the outside, then it’s like, all right, well, if we want to get bigger, then we’re probably using the safety.”
(Could you put the role of CB Jalen Ramsey just into words? We see him moving all around. What is sort of the mission statement?) – “The mission statement going into every week when you’re thinking about your players and in particular your impact players – and we have a bunch of them – but with him, you’re always just trying to put him around where you think the football is going to be. So if you know they want to target a particular receiver, you try to put him there. If you know that they want to do something protection-wise and you think you can him a free run at the quarterback or in the backfield, you try to put him there just because you know the more he can get around the ball, the more opportunities he has to make plays for your defense.”
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I was going to ask about the two waiver claims this week, what they can do from special teams from what you’ve evaluated over the years on them, LB Tyrel Dodson and TE Jack Stoll.) – “Both guys have been productive. Obviously (Tyrel) Dodson when he was in Buffalo early in his career was a four-phase player and a good special teams player, like you hope for most guys who was able to develop into a starting player and has done a good job as a starting linebacker. Really excited, fast, physical so like to see where he’s going to be. Obviously picking up (Jack) Stoll, played on a couple of phases in Philadelphia. Again, another big athletic body, so you can’t have enough of those.”
(You guys sticking with LS Tucker Addington at snapper this week?) – “For right now, he’ll be getting the reps and we’ll see where the rest of the week takes us.”
(LB David Long Jr. since his demotion on defense was getting some special teams snaps. Now obviously waived, what were you seeing from him in those few snaps?) – “Was doing a good job. As you guys know, when you get a uniform on game day, if you are not playing, we’re wasting a roster spot. When you’re limited to 48 guys on game day, everybody that gets a uniform on game day except hopefully the backup quarterback and maybe the eighth lineman, everybody better be participating in some phase. David (Long Jr.) did a great job, made the transition and was able to play on all four phases for us the last couple of weeks and did a good job.”
(CB Siran Neal got a flag running out of bounds. I don’t think there is a general yardage on that, but what is the rule? I know you’ve got to try to get back in. I think he was out of bounds for like 20 yards or something.) – “The penalty wasn’t necessarily that he was out of bounds. Once you start your track and your course back into the field of play, you can’t make any adjustments in the white. Once you start that angle back into the field of play, if you make any kind of move when you are out of bounds it is a penalty. So as he’s making that track back into the field of play, he sees the returner going hard to his right and just naturally adjusts his course but that is considered a move out of bounds which is illegal.”
(To get clarity, once somebody gets you out of bounds, you have to make one track?) – “Once you set that angle – it’s got to be not without reason angle. You can’t set an angle to bring you back into play 40 yards down the field. You got to start your angle and your course to get back into play, and if you make any move back out of bounds, you can make a hard turn to go into the field of play, but if you do anything that changes your course to stay out of bounds, it is a penalty.”
(K Jason Sanders has a kickoff that lands right at the 20, right inside the 20 early in the game. I’m wondering, is that kind of the perfect kickoff execution to hit it in the landing area?) – “Well it was deeper than that, but any time you can get the ball where there’s got to be an adjustment where you’re able to get a head start, it’s an advantage to the kickoff team.”
(Back-to-back weeks where P Jake Bailey has a couple of short punts. Were those just mishits?) – “The angle, the course – he hit three good balls. Obviously the one course the line was a bit wide, ball ends up turning and gets out of bounds. Hit three good balls, we just got to work the line a little bit better.”
(I wanted to ask about some of the kicker injuries that we’re seeing across the league. Obviously, we’re seeing more 50-plus yard kicks. Do you think that practicing those is putting a strain on kickers’ legs? What are your thoughts on that and how do you kind of be proactive in preventing those leg injuries?) – “I think it’s a combination – I think some of the injuries have been related to having to make plays in coverage, that’s come up with a couple of guys. There have been a couple of ankle injuries with guys that have had to try and make a tackle, and that’s come up that way. The soft tissue stuff is always a concern. I don’t think the length of field goals has anything to do with it, maybe the amount of workload some of the guys are having. We always work backward, so as the season progresses, we’re going to get less and less reps because of just the natural wear and tear. When you start in July, you’re building to be able to be active and kick for really six hours. Guys start warming up 10:30 (a.m.), 11 o’clock and you got to be able to go until 4:30 (p.m.), so that’s a long time to be active. You’ve got to make sure you’re doing a good job during the week.”
(I have a technique question for you. Admittedly, I don’t know what I’m watching when I watch these games. I thought when Denver blocked Kansas City’s field goal, they double-teamed one of the linemen, kind of knocked him over and came in. I thought the Rams tried that with T Patrick Paul on K Jason Sanders’ first 50-yard field goal. I thought Patrick held his ground pretty well. What’s the technique when one guy is on either shoulder, what do you want them to do?) – “That’s one of the common rushes you’ll see around the league, and everybody plays it different. Some people play people, some people play gaps. So the technique and what you’re teaching and obviously what we teach is a little bit different maybe than maybe some other teams. That’s a hard play. We talked about it a little bit last week when you guys mentioned Calais (Campbell). For the rush team, you’re able to tee off, not a taxing play, but it’s tough. You get two or three bodies on one individual, you start getting 800 or 900 pounds playing against one guy, it’s a hard down for the field goal protection team.”
(How do you anchor yourself? Can you give me any technique?) – “I won’t. Maybe in the offseason, we’ll spend some time. We’re not going to get too into detail with that.”
(Do you go look at the Kansas City blocked field goal, just a professional curiosity?) – “Yeah, we do weekly plays around the league – all the onside kicks, all the blocks, all the big returns, all of that stuff, penalties, all of that stuff. I get a cut up every week and go back and look through it and see what’s happening around the league, what’s happening good, what’s happening bad, why it’s happening most importantly.”
(You show that to the team as well?) – “Parts of it, it’s an extensive tape. We don’t have time to watch the whole thing, but there’s pieces of it weekly that we try and bring to the attention of the team. A lot of it’s trends, what’s happening, what are people trying and then technique. If you don’t play the right technique, this is what could happen. If you do play, this is what’s happening. All of that stuff is part of our weekly plan.”
(Is that Kansas City play, is that a common–?) – “Yeah, especially for them. That load, getting four guys heavy, on two on the outside, that’s a common thing for them.”
(What makes P AJ Cole one of the best players at his position in this league?) – “I think No. 1 how they use him. They want to play ‘the flip the field’ as I refer to it. They are not afraid to – when they are punting from the minus-20, they’re not worried about a 60- or 70-yard punt. They’re feeling good about their coverage team and they are letting him rip it away. You see trends around the league where some people go to that and then they are coming back to playing more hangtime and directions. He’s a talented, talented player, and they’re letting him play to his skills.”
(We’ve talked about the 50-yard field goal before. The last game there was four of them and you just don’t bat and eye, right? That’s just football in 2024?) – “It is. I don’t think it’s necessarily different from any other year. I think a lot of times what happens on a lot of those plays, what is the down and the distance for that play. I think you’ve seen around the league the analytics of the fourth and short. Those field goals decrease because people are more willing and apt where the numbers are telling you to go for it. But now it’s not fourth-and-1 or fourth-and-2, it’s fourth-and-8 or fourth-and-9, and now that’s why you’re seeing the field goals based on distance to gain more than how long the field goal is.”
(I’m curious about your hands team. I don’t necessarily want to get into specifics, but when you have your hands team out there for an onside kick and then they I guess they a linebacker, is that something they target? The linebacker because he’s got the worst hands?) – “No, I think every kicker has his favorite kicks. Every coach has his favorite kicks. That just happened to be a situation where an inside ball goes to a player who we feel great about. That’s a spot where a lot of teams are going to kick the onside kick, is an inside ball. Anybody that we put out there, we feel very strongly about them being able to make the play, but it’s not about somebody targeting an individual. It’s more you want your best kick. Whether it’s obviously, the look that you’re getting, the people – it’s such a low percentage kick, it’s 7%. You want your best kick to give yourself the best opportunity.”
(Wasn’t there a rule that they were trying to change? I forget, there’s so many special teams rules, because at this point, the onside kick is kind of–?) – “Part of the discussion in the rule change with the new kickoff was when they did and we were going to play back from a normal 35-yard line with both the cover team back to the 35 and normal restraining rules of the return team, being able to change the numbers – hey changed it where you have to have two outside the number, two in the alley. They talked about being able to go to six and four as opposed to having five and five. They talked about being able to put more people in those restraining line areas where you can play more of an overload, but for player safety standpoint, they didn’t go with it.”
(Do you know the percentage before the rule change?) – “Over the last, it’s always been somewhere – at the end of the season, it will be somewhere between 8% and 12%.”
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
DT Zach Sieler
(You’ve done very, very well this season which isn’t a surprise to us, but how would you say you’ve done this season?) – “Honestly, I think it’s been a good year, but there’s a lot to correct still. Obviously, there’s a lot – I missed a couple plays early on I really want to get back and really focus on making those plays this second half of the year, this second push.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel described DT Calais Campbell as the Tom Brady of defensive linemen –) – “That’s very fair.”
(Fair in what sense?) – “What he brings to the table is so much more than just on the field. On the field he does so well, obviously. You’ve seen him this year at 38 years old doing what he’s doing, hasn’t skipped a beat. But off the field, the leadership, the mentorship, bringing guys along, taking the extra time to stay with the young guys and coach them up or help them – he’s staying after practice helping them with different techniques. It’s very rare you have a guy like that, and it’s been a very big blessing for me to play with him, I’ve learned from him.”
(He said he’s found some sort of fountain of youth, is there anything you ask, “Hey, how are you doing this at this age that when I’m that age I can apply to my game too?”) – “I hope I’m playing at 38, we’ll see. It’s incredible to see a guy like that, and yeah, I’ve picked his brain on, ‘Hey, what do you do off the field? What do you do in the offseason? What do you do during each week to help keep you in shape and keep your body going?’ A lot of it’s God and a lot of it’s his determination and staying disciplined.”
(I’ve got to tell you, just watching him walk hurts me. You saw him walk, that lean that he has.) – “Once he warms up, he’s rolling, that’s all it takes. I know what you’re talking about.”
(So you’re playing the Raiders this week, I think they have a defensive lineman you know pretty well.) – “Who’s that? (Adam) Butler? ‘Jenk’ (John Jenkins)? (Christian) Wilkins? Robbie (Rob Leonard), the coach?”
(How much have you kept in touch with Christian Wilkins? Or is there no contact?) – “We keep in touch pretty often, but I do think we both kind of unwrittenly, we’re not talking this week. If he’s up or not, obviously whatever.”
(Is that the only way he stays quiet?) – “I don’t think you’ll ever going to get him quiet.”
(As far as being a captain is concerned, how often do you guys meet with just the captains and QB Tua Tagovailoa protecting himself, has that come up at all in the captains’ meetings?) – “We don’t tell Tua (Tagovailoa) what not to do. He’s done an amazing job this year, and I think he’s doing the best he can. He’s making plays, he’s doing what he can for the team. It’s been great to watch him play. We do meet weekly and we do talk about things, but that is not one of them.”
(DeShon Elliott called the 2023 version of this team soft on a podcast recently, just wanted to get your response to that.) – “I haven’t seen that yet.”
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
RB De’Von Achane
(What impact do you hope the win in the last game will have on the team moving forward?) – “That was a long time coming. We knew we could go out there and get a win, so that just showed what type of team we are. We’d been having a few bad weeks, it just showed we can always get it going. That’s just the start of something new. We are not going to worry about what happened early on in the season and just kind of capitalize from the win we got last week.”
(Having had three games under his belt returning from injury, do you think QB Tua Tagovailoa is taking it to a new level?) – “Yeah, most definitely. He’s always getting better every week, as you can see. He made a lot of plays this week with his legs and scrambling and getting out of the pocket, so you see him getting more comfortable.”
(How does that help the offense? How does that create a great challenge for the defense when the quarterback is willing to roll out to his left, roll out to his right? There was one play where he made two guys miss and he found WR Jaylen Waddle, he found RB Raheem Mostert. How does that help the offense?) – “It helps a lot. When you have a mobile QB who is able to escape the pocket and still make plays, it forces the defense to change up their stuff and run other coverages. We’ve seen a lot two-man this year, and when we have a QB that can do that, I feel like it makes the defense think a lot more.”
(Did you tell him you’ll take care of the tackling? Just step out of the way. That’s what I would do, I would be like listen man, your job is to stand over there.) – “He’s just a team player, I’m sure he didn’t mean nothing by it. I’m pretty sure he didn’t try to do it, but we always tell him to make sure you’re safe and away from all danger.”
(I wanted to ask you about the guardian helmet. How has that worked out for you?) – “I feel like it’s good. People always ask me how it feels, I’m like it feels regular. We practice with a guardian cap, so I just feel like it isn’t a big deal. Sometimes I don’t feel it’s there until people say something to me about it, so it’s just regular.”
(Was there any point where you could feel the weight? Or do you think it doesn’t add weight?) – “Not really because like I said, I practice in it every day. It’s not something I just threw on and it was new to me. If it was new then – obviously, the helmet is lighter without it, but I feel like it’s safer for me when I have it on.”
(I think the Rams had at least one guy that was wearing it. Do you ever talk to any of the other players in the league when you see they are wearing it?) – “I never had a conversation with nobody else. I’m pretty sure they got the same reasons as me.”
(Has there been any feedback from the offensive playmaker this week just to QB Tua Tagovailoa this week about taking some chances there on the tackle? I’m sure you guys took a sigh of relief when everything was OK, but just playing safer because there’s instincts. I’m sure you could speak on instincts.) – “It’s probably just you’re a football player, a competitor. I mean he threw a pick, I’m pretty sure he wanted to make the tackle. Of course most of us said something to him about, but it wasn’t on purpose.”
(Can you speak on that though? There being the fine line between instinct and playing smart as an NFL player because things are moving fast out there?) – “He’s a competitor. He’s not thinking, ‘Oh, I’m finna go out here and get hurt.’ He’s a QB, he knows right from wrong and he was being smart. I feel like it’s just the competitive nature in him just to go out there and try to stop them from scoring.”
(How much momentum did you get from Monday night’s win?) – “A lot. A win in this league if very hard, no matter who you play. We’re going to take this win and just try to keep it rolling.”
(A short week, cross country flight. How do you manage your rest?) – “We just make sure we get into work, come to the training room and keep our bodies right, just hone into the meetings and details. It’s a short week, but we had a lot of short weeks this season. We’ll make sure we’re ready for Sunday.”
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
S Jevón Holland
(You played very well Monday. Did you feel anything on the knee at all or you felt completely back to your normal self?) – “It was a little grab here, grab there, but nothing I couldn’t get through. It felt good to be back out there flying around.”
(One thing that came out in Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s press conference today, I don’t know if you’ve seen the clips on social media, a guy who was in your room last year DeShon Elliott said on a podcast, “The team I was on last year, the majority of the team were not mentally tough individuals. They were soft as bleep.” Have you heard that he had made that comment? What’s your reaction? Is there any truth to that?) – “I heard he made the comment, I saw the clip. I mean honestly man, if you want to call somebody out, go ahead and do that and drop names, but other than that, it’s whatever makes your boat float, whatever allows you to have a good night of sleep, it is what it is. But if you’re not naming nobody, you’re not calling nobody out, then all the rest of the comments are just empty. You’re just talking at that point. I wish nothing but the best for DeShon, he’s having a great year. I hope he continues that success, but other than that, that (expletive) don’t really mean nothing to me.”
(What can one singular win do for your momentum here?) – “It changes the whole thing. I think last week’s win really helps us take that step forward, because we were building on a lot of good things and I think a win solidifies that we’re continuing to trend in the right direction.”
(How are you handling the short week here? Cross country flight, 1 o’clock game Sunday, not a whole lot of time between kickoff.) – “Just been sleeping when you can, I think that’s the magic medicine – as much sleep as possible. Definitely from Monday’s game to now, getting as much sleep as possible.”
(It was a great night for the players, great night for Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver with the game plan that he devised on Monday. What do you like about how he has run this defense?) – “It’s very player based. He’s really thinking about how to put us in the best position possible to go out there and be successful and put our attributes on the table and try to put us in position to make sure that each and every individual strength is magnetized in the defense. I think with that, he does a great job making the play call and putting us in the right position when it counts.”
(What do the Raiders bring to the table?) – “They’re a good team. They’ve got a bunch of weapons on offense. They’ve got a hell of a tight end, Bay Area product, so I’m really looking forward to playing them. It’s just another challenge in this upcoming week, I’m looking forward to it. They were a good team last year. They played us well last year, so I’m assuming that they’re going to play us well this year. They’re going to be a scrappy team; they’ve got a good defense and I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
(Extra hype celebration from you making those big plays, I think the entire defense was just kind of like what had been planned all along with Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver. Is this the type of defense we should be seeing every single week?) – “You’re talking about successful like getting sacks and what not? Yeah, absolutely-”
(Maybe not those numbers, but I’m sure you guys have not been living up to exactly what you guys wanted with all the injuries and everything?) – “Going through injuries kind of puts a damper on the complete success of the defense, but I think last game was a peek into what our defense can do. I think as the weeks go on, we’re just going to continue to build on that performance. If the plays come to us and we make the plays, I think that’s going to go well for us.”
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I had a question about the completion to WR Odell Beckham Jr. to get that final first down on that last drive before the WR Malik Washington play. I noticed that T Terron Armstead like did a jump set on Jared Verse and he took the inside angle and then you immediately flushed out. I was curious if that’s a conversation that you and Terron have about how he might do his pass set or does that kind of happen on the fly where you just read in real time?) – “That sort of just happened on the fly, just reading it real time. That was one of the ‘got to have it’ situations. We sort of had in our mind what they were going to bring out defensively. They showed something different. That was our ‘got to have it’ play and just got to extend it for the first down.”
(Opponents taking WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, is that something you just see more and more concerted efforts now and can you just explain how you combat that?) – “I would say a lot of teams are turning to a lot of two-high shell but then they’re trying to play variations of that two-high shell deal. I would also say that it’s also, for some of the teams that we’ve played, going out of what they normally would run scheme-wise and what they’ve shown throughout the season has been different against us. But it is what it is. You’ve just got to read the play out and whoever’s open within that progression, you’ve just got to give it to them.”
(This past game you guys didn’t run the ball as well as you had the previous several games. Can you explain the difference just what you see when the team is running the ball as opposed to not as much?) – “I would say not having everyone in there – I think Alec Ingold is definitely a big piece to that puzzle with our run game – but sometimes that’s what the games ask. That’s how they’re going to defend the run. That’s how they’re going to stop it and if we can’t run as well, then we’re dependent on our pass game with short pass game to be essentially our run game now, and if we can sort of maneuver through those short passes to intermediate and take our shots when we get them, hopefully that can end up opening the run game. So we’re continuing to work through that.”
(The tackle attempt has made a lot of discourse this week. What did you see when you watched it on tape?) – “I would say it didn’t feel as bad as what it probably looked like, may have looked like. When we watched it, our coach had said that ‘he sort of kneed you in the head.’ Essentially you’re out there playing football; I didn’t necessarily feel that and I wasn’t just going to jump out of the way for him to just run down the sideline and potentially score. So you’ve got to make decisions and I should have never threw the pick in the first place so that’s it.”
(But if you’re in that position again what would you do differently?) – “I wouldn’t do anything differently. I’ll make the tackle, that’s what I’ve got to do. It is what it is. It’s hard to score in this league.”
(Do you think maybe different form, do you have to keep your head up and out of the picture there?) – “You want me to shoulder punch next time? (laughter) I don’t know, maybe could do some things differently with tackling, but I’m not looking to be making tackles like that a lot of times within games.”
(Seriously even going back to training camp, do you guys even spend any time tackling as a quarterback?) – “No.”
(I didn’t think so.) – “I don’t know what teams spend time using their quarterbacks to tackle so I would say that would be news to me if they did.”
(I had a fashion question. You were wearing like a ski cap hood? What’s the reasoning behind that?) – “Jalen Ramsey gave me one of those and just threw it on.”
(The win on Monday obviously keeps a lot of things on the table in terms of your guys’ goals this year. Was there ever a sense of desperation in the building or was it – I asked this question to Head Coach Mike McDaniel and he characterized it just more urgency after each win?) – “Yeah, for sure. That’s exactly what I would say. Definitely the urgency of trying to find that win. You can tell that guys really want to win. Guys are in the building a little longer meeting with each other, meeting with their coaches and when we’re able to go on the road these past two weeks and sort of play the way we’ve played and sort of found something there; although there’s always things we can clean up, I think it’s continued. It’s still a good step in the right direction. We’re not where we want to be, but winning definitely helps things when you’re in the building.”
(The next two teams have a combined I believe like five wins. What’s the process of not overlooking your opponent?) – “It’s the NFL, anything can happen. It doesn’t matter what their record is. They’re a good team, they’re professionals. Those guys on the other side of the ball get paid as well. They’ve got really good coaches so you’ve got to continue the same process that you’ve been doing as if it were Week 1, try to find any way that you can to out-leverage the opponent in any way and go find a win.”
(What do you think as OL Austin Jackson will now be out for the year playing the position that protects your blind side?) – “Man, I would – I’ve even told Austin (Jackson) – prayers to him and I appreciate him doing everything he can to keep me upright as much as possible. But Kendall Lamm, I mean Kendall Lamm has played in this league for a long time. He’s probably one of the greatest pros that I’ve ever been around with how he takes his position work, just everything – how he is on the field, how he is off the field, how he goes about his business. Just a tremendous amount of respect for him so I’m glad that we got someone like being able to protect for him although Austin is out.”
(What was the level of confidence and chemistry with WR Odell Beckham Jr. now? We don’t notice unless he has catches, he’s probably been doing his job, but is it more comfortable, are you catching him quicker now? He’s more dependable than you thought or what is that relationship right now?) – “It’s been good, and Odell (Beckham Jr.) has continued to get reps after reps after reps after reps in practice when guys would go down, and that’s not essentially the rep that he should be working at X or Z or F. He’d essentially just take the rep just so that he could continue to see how the ball is coming out, where the spots are that he needs to be on the field and then also within the timing of the play.”
(Did it take a little while to develop?) – “I would say it’s just like anything else. You’ve got to continue to practice it, you’ve got to continue to work it in order for you to get better at that.”
(I don’t know if you saw DeShon Elliott’s comments, but he called last year’s team “soft AF” – what do you think when you hear a former teammate speak in those terms?) – “I would say every man speaks for themselves. For him, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I’d been able to have a lot of conversations with him last year, but that’s it. Every man has their own voice. They should be able to speak what they feel, and if that’s how he feels, cool. That’s how he feels.”
(When we were speaking with Head Coach Mike McDaniel earlier, he made a mention of how having Maxx Crosby across the line would affect you on Sunday. Just your thoughts on going against him and how much it might accelerate the time clock in your head?) – “Tremendous player, tremendous player. I don’t think there’s anyone in here that (would) say anything bad about Maxx – dude’s got a motor. He’s in basically every play. You look back at the game last year and same thing, and it was sort of late in the season so I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect. We’ve definitely got to keep aware of where he is on the field, but as far as timing wise and how I’m looking at their defense, just play within the timing of the offense.”
(Do they move him around a lot or is he usually the same spot?) – “They move him around. They move him around. I guess it’s just dependent on the the game plan is that week, but they move him around.”
(There’s stats about your stats the rest of the game after an interception and it’s really good, ranked really high across the NFL. I’m curious what’s your process after throwing an interception. Is it different than any other drive?) – “Not necessarily. It really is sort of like the Seakeeper mindset is what we have in our quarterback room. So if anyone in here has a boat or anyone knows much about boats, boats that don’t have Seakeepers and there’s waves, the boat will start to rock. You turn the Seakeeper on while there’s waves, the boat kind of – there’s like a gyroscope thing in there that sort of counters the weight of the waves and how the boat is moving. So that’s essentially what we sort of have. It’s like turn the Seakeeper on; that play is over, just move on to the next play and just continue playing.”
(Two of the last three games you guys have come out of the locker room at halftime and gotten a touchdown. Is there scripting that goes on the first series of a game coming out of the locker room and why you guys have had success?) – “I would say just adjustments to what the defense is showing us and how they want to play against our guys with ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill) and (Jaylen) Waddle on the outsides – how they’re playing our run game as well. That’s basically how we sort of come out with that.”
(Can you explain kind of the split-second decision making that goes on within a game? Whether it’s the deciding to take off and run for the first down, or like we say the other day, going and making a tackle. I know Head Coach Mike McDaniel said in the moment, you didn’t obviously know that you were giving yourself up or being vulnerable in that moment, but what is that process?) – “I would say it’s just going out there and being a football player. Not thinking of anything else, not thinking of the repercussions that could happen – somebody’s going to hit me, or they won’t hit me. I would say it’s just sort of too hard to be thinking of protect myself here when I’m trying to make a play and things like that. But yeah, just going out there and playing football.”
(As a player, is there any way to – I know they’re kind of inherent, the nature of instincts – but as a player, is there any way to prepare for a situation where you’re going to have to, maybe your instincts come into play, and you’ve got to battle against them during a game?) – “I think it goes back to the same way I answered that question, it’s just being a football player. Instinctually, as you’ve grown up playing football, if you played football at a young age, you revert back to what you know, but then it’s also the happy medium between that. You just can’t be thinking of anything else when you’re going out there and playing; the game is too fast and it’s too hard to be thinking of anything else.”
(It’s only human nature to look forward and for everybody on the outside trying to find ways of you guys making it to the playoffs. What’s the process for you to stay within this week and if that’s something that you’ve developed throughout your career or it’s just easy for you?) – “I think that’s something that, like anything else, you’ve got to continue to work. You’ve got to work your mind; you’ve got to work anything you want to get good at. So for us, I wouldn’t even say looking that far, but it’s this next game and what our process has been for other games, that’s sort of the same process that we’ve got to take. That’s the same approach that we’ve got to take into this week – get in our gameplan, get in our book, hope we can get things dialed enough to where we can find ourselves a win this Sunday and then we’ll move on from there.”
(Big plays have been kind of hard to come by in this offense, you hit two on Monday. How cool was it for you to be involved in those two but then also, do you think that hopefully will be contagious throughout the season?) – “Yeah, definitely tough – well tougher this year within our offense because of the two-high shell that we’re getting with defenses. But when we get them and when we get those opportunities, we want to make the best out of them. We know those opportunities don’t come by as much, so any time we’re given a shot to throw the ball down the field or even if it’s not that, check it down to one of our guys to go make a play for us, that’s what we got to do.”
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So you had said to ask you about OL Robert Jones and OL Isaiah Wynn today, but I’m going to add something. Are either LB Bradley Chubb or LB Cameron Goode in addition to OL Isaiah Wynn able to practice this week?) – “Isaiah Wynn’s window will be opening today, and we’re taking Rob (Jones) day by day, letting it cool down and getting treatment. I don’t really have a timeline, but I know he’ll be doing everything to get back on the field because he’s playing very well.”
(And LB Bradley Chubb and LB Cameron Goode, your two edge guys?) – “I see them through the glass working. We’re not in a setback situation. The most I could give is I would anticipate (Cameron) Goode a little bit before Bradley (Chubb). When that is, I look forward to you asking me next week.”
(Can you just detail the long road for OL Isaiah Wynn to get back this point?) – “I think first and foremost, he’s been on his road to recovery for an extended period of time but hasn’t lost his place amongst the team in terms of his leadership. Everybody knows how hard he’s been working because you see better than you hear. Really happy that he’s been able to work through the stuff, I think it’s a great example of who he is as a person to diligently work for however long it’s been. Excited to see him back out here and get his first rep here today and we’ll see where that goes from there, but I’m sure you’ll be able to talk to him more in depth with the medical portion of it in the coming weeks.”
(I haven’t seen a ton of Raiders football his year, but I hear they have a pretty good edge rusher. You have a question at right tackle. How do you see that matchup going?) – “It’s going to take a ‘Maxximum’ effort – several x’s (laughter). They play him various places; Maxx Crosby is probably as disruptive of a player that’s in the National Football League. I think from an offensive standpoint it’s not one person’s job in terms of he’s going to move around and the routes have to be crisp and Tua’s timing has to be right, all the cylinders to execute against him because he’s not only a talented player, but he’s a high-effort, high-strain player. I think that’s one of the better players in the entire league; he is a challenge so you have to be very mindful, and like you’re faced with various challenges in the National Football League week-in, week-out, it’s not one individual’s job although one individual might block him more than other individuals. It’s the orchestration of the offense because bottom line is you have to beat the pass rush however long it takes you to throw to actually execute a pass play. If you take long enough, they will get home regardless of who’s blocking, so I think it’s a collective effort and an attention to technique, fundamentals and details of plan.”
(Do you anticipate that right tackle job being T Kendall Lamm’s until T Patrick Paul beats him out? Is this going to be a week-to-week thing? How do you see that?) – “I think you base those decisions off of day-in, day-out work. I was happy with the way that Kendall (Lamm) played – really all the positions on the football team. I look at it like yeah, so that’s his job, however my job as the head of coaching is that if somebody goes and takes that job somehow, some way or deserves an opportunity, that’s when they get it. So I think diligently working week-in, week-out can help give someone their best shot. You talk about Patrick (Paul), give him his best shot at competing there, but I thought Kendall played winning football which he’s done against all sorts of different opponents at left and right tackle since he’s been here. He’s a consummate pro and very effective.”
(It’s apparent that instinct has kind of taken over with QB Tua Tagovailoa in some of these collision plays, especially the poor tackling attempt and lowering his head in other instances. How do you specifically go about trying to train that out of a player and has there been more effort this week to teach him to tackle a little better?) – “He still hasn’t tackled me; I’ve put him through it a ton. I think there is different circumstances. I think when you’re carrying the ball and you think that you’re protecting yourself, you also know willfully that you’re trying to run somebody over, be physical. I think Tua (Tagovailoa) has a deep understanding of the ramifications of him being irresponsible with the ball in his hands. In my opinion, Tua’s reaction to the tackle was probably different when he watched it on film than what he was thinking was occurring live speed. He’s talked to me at length about how eye-opening specifically being away from football or being out this season and watching the effect of that on the organization; he does not take it lightly, I know that. In football, I think there’s some times where you can picture something in your mind and then you evaluate it on film, ‘Wow, I left myself vulnerable.’ So I don’t think he was disregarding his body in a stubborn manner, I think he had a situation occur where he thought he was protecting himself. I think he’s visually seen how he was a little vulnerable and I expect him to make the adjustments as he’s made all sorts of different adjustments in his game that aren’t strictly just how he protects himself, but how he plays.”
(With the win Monday, it obviously keeps a lot of your goals for the season in play, but when you’re going through the losing streak was there ever a sense of desperation in the building? Or were you guys more of a trust the process kind of feel here?) – “In the National Football League, because of all the things, all the fruits that it bears, there’s also consequences that I don’t think people quite understand. There’s a lot that goes into it, a lot of preparation, and particularly you’re getting yourself prepared to try to go win a game, and when you do that and you fail and that occurs over a three-week time frame, it feels like an eternity. So I think after you lose one game, you are incredibly urgent and that urgency just continues. As a coach, you’re not expecting anything. You’re trying to handle the team and get them focused and give them their best chance to win the following game. But I could tell that guys had – we’d gone through the process; we’d been very clear about communicating things that were keeping us from winning football games, and I think all you can do is hold each other extremely accountable. At some point if everyone feels accountable, you can press forward and you can bear the fruits of all of those hard lessons. I don’t know how to frame it necessarily, I just know there’s been an urgency for us to turn our season around and we’ve looked at it like we are trying to turn each day around, trying to fix each day of prep, fix everything that we can learn from from the game situations and how the prep relates and how we’re applying our prep to the games in the realest form, not just saying ‘I want to win.’ No, doing something about your job, how you can be accountable towards it and how it relates to your teammates, and I think the team really had an opportunity to come together when there’s other teams I’ve been on in my career that might not have. I think all the guys feel that and they’re ready to press forward to the next opponent.”
(DT Calais Campbell has had a nice impact on this team. Where do you see the biggest evidence of his impact on and off the field?) – “I think he’s such a unique individual because he’s an outlier. I call him like the Tom Brady of defensive linemen – how do you play the game week-in, week-out for that long of a career and to do it in the trenches from the one to the five, literally lining up on the center all the way out to the tackle, it’s supremely impressive. But at the same time, it’s not only his performance, but he’s the consummate team guy that knows how to thrive in tough situations. We have a lot of parallel vision on how teams need to operate and how individuals need to focus on what they control and all of those things. I know one thing, whatever it means when I say something, if he’s saying the same thing with as much conviction as I have, the voice travels a lot further. I think it’s been monumental; he’s been a really cool person and player for the organization, and I think he’s playing – he’s got some fountain of youth going, he’s playing as good of ball. He’s playing young 30 (-year old) Calais ball, which is a testament to how he prepares and a huge part of our team.”
(DeShon Elliott, the former Dolphins safety, said on a podcast this week that the majority of the team there, meaning the Dolphins last year, was not mentally tough individuals, that team was soft. Is there any validity to that? Do you believe that a change has occurred in the area of toughness and mental toughness this year?) – “I am supremely only concerned with the 2024 Dolphins, for sure. I think that every team’s ability to be mentally tough in the NFL season is definitely tried, and I think case in point some of the stuff that we’ve been going through. I think our team played a tough fought game the last three weeks and ended up finding a way to win this past week. I think that’s not the easiest thing to do and I’m just worried about this year’s team. You said on a podcast? Cool podcast.”
(What’s been the challenge to get the ball to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle? They’ve had three touchdowns this year, but your offense has taken a different look of late.) – “I think professional football in particular is a steadily evolving thing, and when guys have supreme success at any position – everyone gets paid too and they’re trying to not be additions to a highlight reel. Defenses change and different challenges are presented. I think where Tyreek (Hill) and (Jaylen) Waddle have really grown this season is their full understanding of this offense and how defenses play, that you can see how defenses present on film and then you can see the differences when they’re playing us. They understand their value is being out there and competing, and when they don’t have the ball, creating stress on the defense whether that’s expanding the field or blocking. I think their teammates get some very positive situations because of the attention that they get and they understand that good teams find a way to make you beat them in various ways. So when you’re talking about big game football and December and January football, those types of games are always on the table. And so preparing for those, for our team to take advantage of how people are playing us and if everything is going to be based around those guys, their teammates have to take advantage of that. That’s what I’ve really seen is some confident individuals that every single game want to be the difference maker, and they’ve just found different ways to do that. The headlines aren’t as bold and the postgame interviews might not be as long, but I can see them within their team a real evolution and understanding that you have to continue to find ways to get them the ball and they have to continue to find ways to make plays without it. If everyone is working in that direction, the best thing for the Dolphins will occur.”
(You kind of touched on this a little bit before that when things weren’t going great earlier this season, you wanted to re-evaluate the amount of trust you put in some of your players on your own to do the right things. Have you changed your approach, taken maybe a firmer hand with the team throughout the course of the season, year over year?) – “I don’t really have a default, ‘This is what it is and this is what I am.’ I think I’m always attempting to evolve based upon the needs of the team and what things work and what things don’t. I think if I took a still overlay of maybe the beginning of the season or the beginning of last season or the year before, it’s probably different because I’m always adjusting to the needs of the team, really. When guys respond a certain way in a positive fashion for the expected results, when guys respond to various different tactics, I look at it as kind of part of my job is to not always be X. I know there has been an evolution in just how we go about business, but I would expect that each and every year because the people change but my job doesn’t; I need to get the best out of people. So when people change and situations change, I think it’s very important that I adjust with them and find any sort of way, whatever the avenue is, to try to get things done, which is my job to do so.”
