TE Mike Gesicki
(You had a really good game on Sunday and it seemed like you were able to really find the pockets in zone coverage. I know we talk a lot about a quarterback deciphering man versus zone. But as a tight end or receiver really, what’s the pre-snap recognition like for you in terms of finding the pockets?) – “For me, just understanding different tendencies in the defense. Who is going to be on you if it’s man? Trying to understand how they disguise different things and then while you’re running the route is the most basic way. If somebody is following you or are they not following you? Pre-snap you can kind of get a good idea and then post-snap you’re going to know immediately. That’s the biggest thing. Zone coverage, really getting depths in routes, understanding spacing. And then man coverage, being able to win.”
(What’s it like now getting more time with QB Tua Tagovailoa since he’s been gone…?) – “Yeah, it’s good. It’s been great. Tua has obviously been here now. I’ve gotten plenty of work with him since the day we drafted him. I feel like chemistry is there and all of that kind of stuff, so nothing new with that. It’s obviously good to have him back and good for him to get reps and that kind of thing.”
(I believe you spent time with TE Kyle Pitts at the Tight End University this summer and then he was here for the joint practices. I was wondering what your impressions are of him from one tight end to another?) – “Obviously extremely talented and very versatile in what he can do. I think he’s shown that. I know that he had a big game in London a week before. He’s obviously very talented and he’s definitely a matchup for them to utilize. I think week in and week out, there are a lot of talented guys out there, and he’s obviously one of them.”
(Did you interact with TE Kyle Pitts at all at Tight End U and did he pick your brain?) – “He didn’t ask me anything. There were a lot of other guys to talk to other then Mike Gesicki. (laughter) But he was there. He’s a good kid. I talked to him a little bit. I’m happy for him. He had a good start to his career. I wish him the best and all of that.”
(What kind of progress are you making on your hurdling game? You got caught in the air a little bit.) – “I will not quit the hurdling game. If there is an opportunity, which there probably wasn’t an opportunity on that one. (laughter) It is what it is. Get the ball in your hands and try to make a play. That is all that was.”
(Coaches tell you anything when you got back to the sideline after that play?) – “Nothing. Nothing.”
(Is it almost worse when the don’t say anything?) – “(laughter) No. You saw me. I get up, I go nuts, I run around the field and act like we just won the Super Bowl. That’s just the way I play and how I act. Just having fun out there. I’m not really worried about it.”
(Your celebrations when you get a first down, and the enthusiasm. Do you find that to be infectious with the guys?) – “You try to go out there and have fun, and you see the guys having fun out there. That’s why we do what we do, honestly. We put in a lot of work, we put in a lot of time, a lot of extra work that nobody really sees. You go out there and make a play, go enjoy yourself, go have fun. And then the next play mentality, be ready to go and do it again. That’s the way I play and the way I carry myself. I like to have fun.”
(I think you missed only one game in your pro career. I don’t remember if you had a similar track record at Penn State. What do you attribute to your ability to stay on the field?) – “A lot of it’s probably luck, honestly. It’s a physical game. You could get rolled up on the wrong way or be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But also, you try to put in a lot of work into your body and the weight room, stretching and tubs, and everything and anything that you can do to stay durable and stay out there. You always hear everybody say, ‘your best ability is your availability.’ If you can be out there making plays, it’s better than not. That’s what I try to do. Some guys are not as lucky, but it’s just the way the game goes.”
RB Myles Gaskin
(Head Coach Brian Flores told us today that the team needs to run the ball more. What do you think when you hear that?) – “Just take that as a challenge for the running back room and when we get our opportunities, do well with them and excel. When you hear that from the coach, it just motivates you.”
(You’re somebody who’s always had good hands out of the backfield, but you seem to be fighting the ball a little bit on Sunday. Anything you can put your finger on? Or does that mean more time on the JUGS this week?) – “More time on the JUGS. Just got to have a better mindset. I had a hard day, had a rough day. Not catching the ball, a lot of drops. Just got to keep working on it, focus on it, don’t take the little things for granted about catching the ball and all that type of stuff. Not trying to worry about making a play after you catch the ball, just have to lock in on catching the ball.”
(Why do you think the team has not had the consistency in the run game that you would like to have?) – “I’m not sure. Just kind of the way the games have gone. We’ve been in different situations at different times and with those types of situations, you have to do other things. We like our RPO. I think Tua (Tagovailoa), I think Jacoby (Brissett) was really good at it. Just making those decisions because if there is another guy in the box, you’re just setting yourself up for failure sometimes at times. But when you can hit Mike (Gesicki), Jaylen (Waddle) and guys like that out in space, that’s a great thing to have.”
(What are you seeing out of defenses? Are they showing the run game any respect for you guys or are they not?) – “Yeah, definitely. I think every team respects every other team’s run game, sometimes a little bit more. I wouldn’t say that they don’t respect our run game at all.”
S Brandon Jones
(I was curious about the last play of the last game prior to the field goal. After the game, Head Coach Brian Flores said that it could have been played a little tighter – the defense that was called. And Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer talked about how he could have made some coaching points that might have helped on that play. What if anything – it’s a bang-bang play but what, if anything, could you or would you have done differently?) – “I think I just would have paid attention to the situation that we were in. Obviously with three, I don’t know how many seconds they had on the clock left but it was definitely a learning experience for me and I think did I have to touch him right then and there, could I have waited and maybe the one second that ran off the clock. It is what it is at this point. Like I said, it’s just a learning experience for me and just taking what happened and learn from it at the end of the day.”
(What was the experience like as far as you guys landed at like 2:30 Monday morning, which means you probably got to bed around 4:30 or something like that. Just getting your body clock right again and then coming back to work, what have the last couple of days been like for you?) – “That was tough. The biggest thing for me is that I usually don’t sleep on planes, but I had to force myself especially with a nine-hour flight back, being sore and tired after the game. I kind of forced myself to get an hour or two of sleep. I usually wake up really early so it didn’t really affect my clock that much. I got home at like 3:30 or something like that and had wake up early, come in and take care of my body and stuff. I think it was tough. I think the flight there was actually a little bit rougher to me because I had to force myself to get sleep because we had walkthroughs and meetings and stuff the next morning when we landed. That was definitely the hardest thing but overall, it was an awesome experience and I’m glad I got to be a part of that.”
(Is it kind of a good thing in a weird way that – I know you guys want to fix this and get back out there – that you don’t have to sit around for a bye with a losing streak on you? I know after the trip that everyone would like a few days off, sure. But is it a good thing in a weird way that you guys get back out there?) – “Oh yeah, especially for us. I think we’re just all at this point super hungry and ready to just get a win, especially just based off of the work we put in, the amount of time we put into this and just how much we care and love each other as players. And how much we respect the coaching staff and know that they put us in the best position that they can. At the end of the day, we just have to do a better job of executing. Once we can put that together, I think we can definitely string some wins together.”
(What was your perspective of CB Noah Igbinoghene’s play?) – “Noah played good, especially just him being a little up and down. He definitely did well. I think it was cool for me just to sit out there and see all the younger guys, a lot of the younger DBs out there being able to play and just build our communication and our overall learning and knowing how each other play. I think that’s always cool. I think for the most part, he did a really good job of holding his own and making plays when he could.”
C Greg Mancz
(How has your comfort level improved as you have gotten more and more playing time with the Dolphins?) – “Every day is better. I’ve told you guys before, it’s just as much about getting more comfortable with the guys off the field and just building the communication day by day because every situation is a new journey, if you will. Day by day, we just keep working.”
(What impressed you about what QB Tua Tagovailoa was able to do successfully in London?) – “Tua is obviously a very good quarterback. I’m not really surprised or anything. I just try to sort of make his job as easy as possible from what I can do and what I can communicate to my guys up front. I’ve told you before, I don’t see what’s going on behind me and my only goal is to make sure we can keep him going because he can do some things.”
(How is that quarterback-center chemistry with him?) – “My first week here was the first time I had ever taken a snap with him was the first game. It was nice. It’s a quarterback and he’s left-handed. I’ve told you guys before that really doesn’t mean anything to me. I just try to get the ball back there for him every single time.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa mentioned that there is some discomfort but when he gets in a game, he just puts it out of his mind and moves on. Is there anything, as an offensive lineman, is there anything that you can sense either in a good way or bad way as far as any discomfort he may have been feeling? Did he express any of that?) – “Nope.”
(So if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have known that QB Tua Tagovailoa was coming off an injury?) – “No, honestly. That might partially just be my mentality where I just zoom in and all I’m focused on is my job. I didn’t notice anything crazy.”
(You talked about the need to build chemistry off the field too. How critical is that when things are not going well? To have a group that likes and cares about each other?) – “I think it’s paramount if you’re winning or you’re losing. Every team I’ve been on, good or bad, that has always been a goal, especially in the offensive line room. There are five guys on the field but there are eight guys in a game and there are 14 or 15 guys in the room. If you guys can’t look at each other and sort of know what you’re thinking in the game, especially in a loud stadium – like in London, it got real loud every once and a while. You look at each other and you’re nodding. You’re not even talking. I think that’s paramount no matter where you are. I think it’s something that you are always working to improve as well.”
(I know you guys aren’t totally focused on stats but this was the first game where the Dolphins didn’t give up a sack. Were you aware of that and that must make you feel pretty good because that’s the goal right?) – “I mean I’ve told you, stats are cool and all but as an offensive lineman the only stat that really matters at the end of the day is a W or an L. We’re going to keep working. We’re going to get in the room. We’ve got more meetings today and we are going to try to work harder so we can get the outcome that we really want.”
DT Christian Wilkins
(A lot of times when a team – most every time when a team has played in London, they’ve had the next week off. What was this process like of just getting the body and mind right after that long trip and ready to go again this week?) – “We’re still definitely in that process. You mentioned it. Most teams get the week off, but it’s just a quick turnaround for us. We’ve got to just make sure we’re being professional, being pros, getting our sleep, getting our recovery, all those things that are necessary to get back on track. And not just this week but the rest of the season.”
(As defensive linemen, what do you all as a group have to keep in mind as you face a guy like Falcons QB Matt Ryan?) – “He has a lot of experience. He’s been playing, what, 15, 16 years? And there isn’t anything that he really hasn’t seen, so we’re going to have to just do our job and stick within the game plan.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores mentioned there is some value in the walkthrough in terms of being able to make sure that you kind of slowly go through where everybody is supposed to be positioned. What do you view as the benefit of the walkthrough?) – “It’s definitely important because just mentally, you’re getting all the reps mentally and then it just kind of slows down for you. You’re able to just lock in mentally and really even just still work your footwork, work your steps, stepping with both of your feet in the right direction and things like that. So that’s definitely important. You lose the physical piece but like I said, the mental is all there and even more so in a lot of ways.”
(When things aren’t going great, when you’re losing games, and then you come back to work. Obviously you’re not happy about it, but what’s that line between carrying that unhappiness vs. nobody wants to come to work when everybody’s just in a bad mood.) – “Each week is a different week and I say this all the time, just that 24-hour rule. You can’t let things carry over into the next week regardless of what happened on Sunday. You’ve got to turn the page fast whether you had the best game of your career and we win or whether we have the worst game of your career and we lost. You’ve got to be able to turn the page really fast and look at it each week as each individual week because you don’t want to have the spiral effect.”
(Looking back a couple years ago when you went through a bad stretch and then you were able to turn it around – I think you won five out of seven at the end there. How do you look back on that and know that you had that strength to overcome all those losses?) – “Really just like I said – kind of just have to take things week by week. I know that was two years ago – different team, different situation, but this is a different team, different season. So we’re just going to have to take it week by week and try to put one foot in front of the other and at the end of the week, see what results happen.”
(In a way, is it easier said than done do you think to remain positive when losses pile up?) – “It really is just up to the leadership of the team. Just guys in the locker room. It’s up to us to continue to stay positive, continue to come to work each and every day and have the right mindset because whatever mindset we create as a team, it’s infectious and we know if we wantto turn things around, then we’re going to turn things around. And if we want to continue to have a positive mindset, then that’s what we’ll do.”
DB Jason McCourty
(I’ll ask you what I asked QB Tua Tagovailoa. How would you describe the mood of the locker room right now and how can you influence that as a leader?) – “I think guys are remaining positive and trying to continue to work towards getting to the goal that we have in mind. Obviously, that’s to win a football game. The last five weeks have been disappointing. I think what those guys alluded to, the work you put in Monday through Saturday, preparing for the game when you fall short on Sunday, it’s disappointing. It hurts but you have to turn the page and you have to move on. I feel like that’s what guys have done. We came in today focused, ready to work, ready to get the gameplan, had a walkthrough. Guys are out there communicating. Obviously in a walkthrough, you can get a lot more plays in, so it’s not moving as fast of a pace. But because of that, you can rep stuff a little bit faster. Guys are working and we know there is only one way to get a win – we’ve got to put the work in during the course of the week to be able to go out there and execute on Sunday.”
(What is your experience when you’re going through a bad streak? I know in Cleveland, you went through some tough times. What can you maybe take away from some of those experiences that might help you today?) – “Whatever we did in Cleveland, don’t repeat it because we continued to lose. (laughter) So I don’t really want to touch on that. But I don’t know, each team is different. I think like with what Tua (Tagovailoa) said, each level is different. I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to show up to work and you’ve got to be ready to work with a positive attitude. I think that’s not just football, that’s life. There’s going to be times where you go through adversity, where things don’t go your way. I’m sure most of you have children. There’s times you’re teaching them a lesson or maybe you don’t like your teacher or got a bad grade and how do you respond? I think for us as a team, it’s continuing to get up every day with a positive attitude. Making sure you’re watching the same if not more film this week to prepare for Atlanta than you did last week for Jacksonville. Making sure we’re not getting down on ourselves or looking for excuses but that we are continuing to put the work in and we’re continuing to move forward.”
(I know you know Head Coach Brian Flores well. How would you describe how he is approaching this particular situation?) – “Being himself. Just continuing to push guys, not lowering the expectations. You know for him, it’s consistency. You know each and every day you come in here, you know what you’re going to get. You know the attitude that he’s going to have. You can almost guess the things that he’s going to say and it’s going to remain the same of we’ve got to put the work in, we’ve got to execute. I think for us as a team, we’ve continued to work each and every week since I’ve been here. When we get to Sunday, we just have to make sure that we are executing and we are doing the things that we need to do to come out with a win. Those are those small details that sometimes get lost but that become the difference between winning and losing.”
(Your snap count has gone down the last couple of weeks. Have the coaches told you anything about what they want to see from you?) – “I think for me, it’s just you focus on whatever plays you do have. Obviously every single guy in that locker room would love to be out there every play of the game and we all feel like we can make an impact to help win. But the one thing I’ve learned throughout my course in the NFL is control what you can control. I think my defensive coordinator used to say that all the time my rookie year. Throughout my career, I had a DB coach that said, ‘Don’t count the plays, make the plays count.’ I’m trying to control what I can control and trying to make the plays count that I do have. Obviously, we all would like to be out there every single play. I think what Brandon (Jones) alluded to when he was talking – him, Jevon (Holland), those guys and some of our younger players are doing a good job and playing well. Although I haven’t been in as much, it’s been fun to see the evolution of Jevon from when he first got here to being out there, making plays, communicating well, the passion and emotion that he plays with, his ability to line guys up and just seeing the growth from him as a player. When you’re 34, you know if there’s a young guy behind you that’s behind you that’s a good player, at some point he’s going to get on the field. I’ve just tried to be super supportive of him and Brandon on the sideline looking at the (Microsoft) Surface if there’s things that I can help them with or reminders of yelling out on the field. I’ve just tried to do my best just to help the team get a win whether I’m out there for 90 percent of the plays or whether it’s 30 percent of the plays.”
(What does it say that even at 1-5, if the mood is still good and the want is still there, what does it say about the character of the room? The character you guys have inside the room.) – “I think what Tua (Tagovailoa) said when he talked about trust, I think there is trust amongst our locker room. I think guys trust that the other guys care. Obviously, you want guys to know what they’re doing and there’s going to be mistakes, there’s going to be some bad plays. But when you truly believe that the guys in the locker room and the guy lining up next to you, he cares about the team, he cares about winning, he’s out there and he’s doing everything he possibly can to get those things done, I think you can continue to build even when it is in a loss. Obviously, it’s a lot harder. We know this league is about production, it’s about wins and losses. When you come up short, it’s going to be disappointing, there’s going to be a lot of negativity that surrounds the team as it should be. We’re all paid to do a job and that job entails winning. I think for us as a team, guys, coaches and players alike, trust that we are doing everything in our nature to go out there and win on Sunday. We just have to continue to work. When we don’t get the results, we may have to change a thing here or there but continue the one thing that has to stay consistent, which is the work that’s put in.”
(With the top two cornerbacks down, was there a consideration to make a move and put you back at corner?) – “I guess I would go back to what I said before, control what you can control. If that’s what the coaches believe is the best thing for us to do in order to win on Sunday, then I quite possibly could be out there at corner. If they feel whoever is out there gives us the best chance to win, then that’s who’s going to be out there. Whatever the role is, just trying to do whatever I can.”
LB Jerome Baker
(How would you describe the mood of the team today coming into today and approaching a new week?) – “The mood? I think we’re normal. Guys are not moping around. We know we have a job to do Sunday and it’s a great opportunity to go out there and play. It’s the National Football League. We’re all professionals. We can’t come in here and let it affect our day-to-day lives. We’ve got to come in here – we’re blessed. We play for the Miami Dolphins and we have another opportunity to go out there and play. I think guys are hungry to get it right and get a win. I think that’s the mood of the team.”
(You make that sound so easy.) – “What? Playing a game you’ve been playing since you were six years old? Yeah, it’s pretty easy. (laughter)”
(The game might be, the playing of the game might be. But what DT Christian Wilkins was saying – he always says the 24-hour rule. He always talks about it. When you’re winning, it’s easy. But when you’re losing, it’s got to be really tough to move on. That’s what I’m saying is the difficult part than just playing the game you’ve being playing since you were six years old.) – “I’d say it’s a credit to ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) and Mr. (Chris) Grier and all of those guys above us. They brought in guys that come to work and we truly come in and want to win. We know we’re not what our record reflects. We know we’re better than that. So to see guys come in, who are excited to be around each other, and ultimately we want to get back to work and we want to prove that we are better than what we are showing. Guys are not upset. We’re not mad at each other. We know if we want to change the outcome of the season, we have to do it with each other. The mood, I guess you’d say, is we’re in this together. At the end of the day, we’re in this together. I know it might seem hard to a lot of people that we’re losing and all of that. But at the end of the day, we’ve been playing this game since we were little kids. The guys in the locker room, we truly care about each other, we truly love each other. We know we can change it around. At the end of the day, it takes us. I think we’ll be fine.”
(I don’t remember if you had to cover TE Kyle Pitts in the practices at all?) – “No, I didn’t.”
(Ask the safeties, ask the corners?) – “(laughter) He’s a talented guy. He’s just as good as a lot of receivers in this league as far as running routes. That’s a little bit out of my element. He’s a great player though. We’re definitely going to through different things at him. I’m not expecting to cover him that much.”
(How much does it help facing guys that are in another conference in that setting? At least you get some tendencies you can pick up from.) – “Yeah, it helps us as far as just scouting. It’s different to watch a guy on film going against another guy. If you can just turn on the tape and see a guy you just played a few months ago or a few weeks ago, that’s a little different. We know what type of players they have and the same thing – they know what we have. It makes it a little bit easier as far as you come in the building and you have a good idea of who you’re playing against and exactly how they play against you. It definitely helps a little bit.”
(I know LB Vince Biegel isn’t on the 53-man roster at this time, but he’s back in the building. At his best, what could he bring?) – “Biegel brings so much. I think the one thing that I’ve always said – when I first saw him when I walked into the building, I gave him a hug because the energy he brings is that he truly loves to be out there. He truly wants to play for the guys and help us win. To see his face and see him come back from everything he’s been through, it’s hard not to smile. For me, I give hugs, so I gave him a hug. He’s definitely going to help us win games. I’m definitely excited.”
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I guess first of all, how are your ribs feeling after that first game action?) – “Sore. My ribs are sore. But I’m just glad I got to get out there and play with the guys. Obviously it wasn’t the outcome that we wanted but thank the good Lord above that we have another opportunity to play this week, as well.”
(How much of your time rehabbing and coming back was spent just learning how to tolerate the pain associated with every throw?) – “I guess it was a day-to-day thing depending on how I felt throughout that week or depending on what day it was. We kind of rested it the first week and a half or first two weeks, and then I kind of sat down with the training staff and we kind of talked about things that we were going to do to try to help with speeding it up or whatever you want to call that.”
(Looking back at the film, what did you particularly like about what you did on the field and what are some of the things that you are looking to kind of improve on in this second game?) – “Yeah, I don’t think it’s more so me. I think when I look at the film, it’s what we can do collectively as an offense. I think there are some things that we did really well in the game and there are bits and pieces that you can kind of go back into the film room and say this isn’t up to our standards and how do we go about fixing that? That’s what this week is for. We have another chance to play another game and another team, so we have to prepare this week.”
(Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey said that he’s using those two touchdown drives that you were able to orchestrate as kind of the building blocks going forward. What stood out to you about those two drives and what you liked about it?) – “I think we executed pretty well. Up front with our RPOs and then when we had to push the ball down field. Yeah, we were all on the same page on those drives, on those two drives. But that’s just something that’s hard in this league is consistency, and that’s what we’re trying to strive for offensively, defensively and as a whole.”
(The team is 31st in yards per pass play. How do you get that number up from right now where it’s 5.53 yards per attempt.) – “Well right now for me, if we’re 31st in the league in passing but we’re winning games, I think that’s all that matters is bringing home the win. Whatever we can do, whether it’s throwing check downs all game or handing the ball off. To me, that’s what is most important. Not how much I can throw the ball downfield. I could throw for six touchdowns but if we lose, to me that doesn’t matter. I think what matters is us getting a win.”
(How would you describe the mood of the team today?) – “I think everyone is just excited for a win. Everyone wants to come to work. Everyone works hard. You can see it in the building. It’s just tough. You lose and you put all this work into it and no matter how much you put into it, the outcome hasn’t changed yet. I would say we’ve got a good group of guys. There’s really no negativity in the locker room. Guys are picking each other up. I think that’s what this league is all about. You’re going to make mistakes but it’s how you learn from it. We all have an opportunity for that – offensively, in the kicking game and then also defensively.”
(Where would you say the line is between guys needing and wanting to do more but not wanting to do too much or go rogue or try to do something that’s not really their job? Where is that line?) – “Well, I guess that’s where trust comes in. You’re trusting that the guy next to you is going to do his job. I think that’s really what it is in this team sport. You’re trusting the guy next to you that he’s going to do his job and he’s trusting you that you’re going to do your job. If everyone does their job collectively, that’s what you are expecting is the result to be good.”
(You guys were pretty sharp when you played the Falcons in preseason play. How much do you take away from those series against Atlanta?) – “I think you look at the preseason, you look at the practices that – we had joint practices with them. I would say they’re a different team. They had different guys when we were playing. Obviously they’re going to have their starters out there when we’re playing them but the scheme is going to be the same. You can see they’re coming off a win. They’re well rested coming off they’re bye. For us, it’s been the same things over and over. It’s execution and go out and understand what we’re going to do offensively, defensively and in the kicking game to execute what we’re going to do to win the game.”
(Are you experiencing any discomfort whatsoever when you throw the ball these days because of the ribs?) – “Yes and no. Yes, there are some points of discomfort when I do certain things. But no because when I’m in the game, you’re just going. It just gets to certain parts of the game, I guess.”
(I know you guys walked through today. What are some of the benefits of the walkthrough environment?) – “I think some of the benefits with the walkthrough environment, especially coming back from London, it kind of helps us recharge and regroup. It helps us communicate a lot better. Not going fast. It’s at a communication pace. And you can restart it – the play that you’ve done. It’s really for teaching, I would say. I guess that’s the benefit to that.”
(Going back through your history coming up through different levels of football, is there anything in your past that comes to mind as far as going through a losing streak such as this one at five now? Anything that stands out as far as how you were able to maybe get through that point and start winning again?) – “Yeah. To answer that, I would say it’s a different league. High school is different than college. College is different than the NFL. This is the professional level. We’re not just pros on our team. They’ve got pros on their team. They’ve got good guys on their team. It’s not easy. I understand that. Our team understands that. We don’t take winning and losing for granted. But to me, that’s what it falls back to is just learning from your mistakes and continuing to grow. Like I said, the group of guys that we have in the locker room are really supportive of each other, and I think that’s what helps wanting to push to win and wanting to good for the guy next to you. I think we have a family-oriented locker room and I think that’s what’s going to keep us going the rest of the year.
Head Coach Brian Flores
(The decision to bring back LB Vince Biegel, what went into that and is he ready to play immediately?) – “We’ll see how he looks in practice these next couple days. Obviously we have history with Vince. He’s been here the last couple years, was hurt last year. We had him in training camp. There’s a lot of things we like about him as a player, as a person, and we are excited to have him back.”
(I wanted to go through a list of guys that you gave us slight updates on Monday – CB Xavien Howard, CB Byron Jones, WR DeVante Parker, WR Preston Williams and TE Adam Shaheen. Do you expect them to be at the walkthrough?) – “Yeah, I expect them all to be at the walkthrough. Again, it’s obviously a scaled-down pace so they’ll all be available for that. We’ll just take it one day at a time. They’re all getting better, they’re all treating and they’re all doing everything they can. I think tomorrow is going to tell us a lot more about their potential status for the game. But yeah, they’ll be available for the walkthrough.”
(Long flight home, just kind of an exhausting last couple of days. Do you feel like guys are refreshed, energized and ready for this week?) – “Yeah, it was good juice in the meetings this morning. Guys are ready to go from a preparation standpoint and getting ready for Atlanta. Obviously, we have some familiarity with them from seeing them in training camp. They’re a good team. They do a lot of good things really in all three phases. We know that obviously this is going to be a big challenge. We talked about the adjustments, the improvements, the small margin for error there is in this league. I think they just want to get out there, try to improve, get better and try to do the things we need to do to have the outcome we are looking for.”
(How has QB Tua Tagovailoa responded since getting action and preparing for another practice week?) – “He’s responded well. He’s really into the preparation for this week. He was in yesterday working out and getting started on his prep. The same thing this morning. He was in early going through some of the early down stuff – the run game, the play action game and the drop-back game. Understanding how they want to play defensively. He was asking a lot of questions like he always does and going through his preparation. Just ready to get out there and practice, really walkthrough today. But it’s an opportunity to get in the huddle, go through the play calls, go through our alignments, our assignments and our responsibilities. His conversations with the receivers, the backs, the tight ends and the o-line. ‘Hey, we’re expecting this, we need to do this. This is a good player, make sure we got this guy taken care of.’ Matchups, things like that.”
(On the pain tolerance standpoint, did QB Tua Tagovailoa come out of it okay?) – “Obviously there was some discomfort but he’s a tough kid. I thought he got through it well. I think this is one of those things where every week you get a little bit better, a little bit better each day, each week hopefully. He’s a tough kid, I’m sure there is some discomfort but in his mind, he’s good to go. He’s not going to complain about anything.”
(It’s pretty rare for a team to come back from London and not have a bye. In a weird way, could it almost be beneficial to you guys right now, just to get right back out there and try to find something that works?) – “Yeah, I think we want to get back out there. We want to get back out there and play and perform better. That’s really what we’re looking to do. To wait a couple weeks, I wouldn’t want – I’m happy we’re playing. I think the players are happy we’re playing and we’re excited to get started with our prep today.”
(Was it difficult for you? It’s a nine-hour flight home for everybody. There aren’t really a lot of days off in your line of work, I get that, but was it tough for you to bounce back physically, mentally and all those things?) – “I like to think of myself as a resilient person. I’ve dealt with plenty of adversity in my life. Disappointment. But you watch the film, you make the corrections. You see the things that we need to do better, the things that I need to do better, the points of emphasis that we have talked about. But we have to find a different way to talk about them and to teach them. Yeah, (it’s a) long flight, lots to think about, a lot of film to watch, lots to think about. But yeah, pick yourself up and move on.”
(When you watch the Falcons on film, how much of it is stuff that you recognize from them being here a few days this summer and how much of it are you realizing that them being here in the preseason doesn’t benefit your preparation that much?) – “I think a lot of the players are the same so there is familiarity from that standpoint. Schematically, there are some things that are core fundamentals, core principles of that offense, that defense and that kicking game. Those foundational pieces are there. Arthur (Smith), Dean (Pees), those guys do a good job of dressing things up a little bit differently and doing their core things, but they don’t look like their core stuff. We got to do a good job with our communication. We got to do a good job following our rules and while we do have familiarity with them from a personnel standpoint – I said this on Monday, they didn’t show us everything, we didn’t show them everything. They have good coaches, they do a good job, they have good scheme, good players, so we are going to have to do a good job with our technique, our fundamentals, our communication and take care of all those little things. Which if you just take care of all the little things, then normally the big things work out in your favor.”
(Among things you said a minute ago, did you say that the staff will consider different ways of teaching? Can you tell me more about that?) – “I think this is just teaching in general. Everyone is a little bit different. I’ve got one son who learns this way and another son who learns this way. I think we talk about things like – whatever it might be, route depths. We talk about run defense, run fits, tackling. We may show it on video, we may show a PowerPoint, we might get up and demonstrate ourselves. I think there’s a few different ways to teach things. As a teacher, if we’re not getting it, then you have to find a different way. I guess that’s really what I’m saying.”
(Hence the value of today’s walkthrough, right?) – “Well, I think that’s more along the lines of – the idea behind a walkthrough is it was a long trip. We’re trying to take a little bit off of them. That’s really more behind the walkthrough. But yeah, definitely an opportunity to get a little more teaching done. I don’t want to make too much of this, but I think in any situation for anybody who’s teaching anyone, it may not be resonating the way you want it to and you have to change.”
(How would you assess the progress of the current starting offensive line and are you continuing to move forward with this group?) – “I think they are doing – I think any time you get a group that can play together for multiple weeks, hopefully months, then you’ve got an opportunity for that group, as a group, to get better. We’ll stay with that line. They’ve done some good things but with more repetition, with more time together, hopefully they can continue to grow as a unit. That’s just one part of the offense. Obviously a big part, but one part of the offense. We need to grow as an offense, as a defense, as a special teams and as a team.”
(When a team is 1-5, when things aren’t going well for a team, do you find it’s difficult to get players to just focus on their job? Like just do your assignment? Nobody has to be a hero right now. Nobody has to do more than you’re being asked to do. There is probably that tendency “I got to do more, I got to do more, I got to do more.” Is it tough to try to rein players in a little bit when they want to win so badly and there’s that compelling feeling that I’ve got to do more when they really just have to do what the assignment is?) – “That’s a great question. I think we have a group of guys who all want to do more. They’re all competitive. They all want to help the team, but you’re right. The thing that they can do to help the team is take care of their alignment, their assignment, their responsibility. And if each guy does that and we do it play after play after play, we’ll get the results we want. But I think everybody wants to do a little bit more, so ‘I’m in my gap, I’m in my gap, I’m in my gap. I try to make a play and I’m out of my gap.’ And that happens and I understand the wanting to do that for the team and it’s with the right thought process. Their heart is in the right place. That’s the balance we’re trying to get to. But I think the ‘want to,’ the competitiveness, the desire to help our team – that’s there. These guys, they’re pulling for each other, supporting each other and I think when you have enough of that, then we continue to just prepare and work things out in all three phases, then I think we’ll be okay.”
(The past couple years, this team has started slow and then trended upward as the season goes on and I know this is a different year, different team and everything. But are there things you can take from those experiences and apply them to this year to get players to believe or to get things just turned around in general?) – “I think probably what comes to mind is I always want to feel like we’re getting better. I think if you feel that way, then regardless of the circumstances, the results, then there’s something that you can kind of pull from that and you can kind of build on that. In some areas we are, and in a lot of areas we aren’t. So that’s a lot of the things that we’ve been talking about is our continued improvement, our trying to build, trying to improve and really there’s a myriad of areas offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. I think once we start to improve in those areas more consistently and as a team, then we’ll get some of the improvement that we desire.”
(I know you talk about balance a lot, but I had kind of a specific question. How much of a role do you think running RPOs has played a factor in not running at the volume that maybe you’d like. And if it hasn’t played a role at all, what do you think is the reason for not rushing as much?) – “I think it’s more about probably being behind. I think that’s probably the No. 1 reason why we’re getting less rushes. The RPOs may play a factor in that as well. If it’s run-pass, if they give us the pass, we pass it. But I think every team is dealing with that. But we’ve got to do more. We’ve got to run it more. We’ve got to run it more efficiently and it’s something we’ve talked about and hopefully we have an opportunity to do that and obviously try to do that. Yeah, it’s something we need to do a better job of.”
(The guys who are recovering in injury that will be participating in today’s walkthrough – which ones of them would go if it was a full practice and how far along are they?) – “That’s hard to say. I think they’d all be – I don’t really want to get into hypotheticals about what today would look like. We’ll see them tomorrow, but I think they’re all trending in the right direction. They’re all working hard. They’re all rehabbing. I think they’ll all have an opportunity potentially to – they would have an opportunity to practice today. I think they’re going to have an opportunity to practice tomorrow, but there’s a lot that goes into that. It’s how do they feel that morning. It’s hard to say today given that we knew it was going to be a walkthrough.”
(I know we spoke to you earlier during the joint practices about your relationship with Falcons QB Matt Ryan dating back to Boston College, but is there any maybe one memory or one trait that sticks out from that one season that you’ve kind of still seen in his play to this day?) – “As a player?”
(Yeah.) – “I was going to say I remember him singing as a freshman in front of the whole team. That’s the one thing that sticks out, but I forgot what song it was. We just made all the freshmen – I remember him being up there. (laughter) But he was always a smart player. He was always cerebral even when he was 18 years old. And he always had a good idea of what he was looking at as far as what he saw defensively and where to attack. That’s been the case for a long time.”
(We asked you this about Buccaneers QB Tom Brady, too – but Tom, Falcons QB Matt Ryan, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger – they don’t age, these guys. They really don’t. What is it about – is it just the cerebral nature of the nature? Like what is it about that these guys have been able to not just get on top but stay there for as long as they have?) – “They’re obsessed with being good. They’re obsessed with being great. So practice, nutrition, hydration. There’s no magic. They all work at it, but they’re able to sustain that type of work ethic because they’re obsessed with being great players. That’s really it. There really is no magic. The magic is not a lot of people have that type of obsession to be great. They don’t have that. So those guys do and you see why they’ve played so long and why they’re able to perform at a high level for so long.”
