LB Jerome Baker
(How much of this is like a redemption day for all the big passes and plays that they’ve gotten on y’all without pads?) – “(laughter) I wouldn’t call it a redemption day. It’s just one of those days that it’s the first day of pads; we come out here and have fun. And we really just see who can compete, who really loves the game. It’s definitely easier on the first day, but the fourth, fifth day is where you see who really loves it.”
(Did it help that you had a little cloud coverage today?) – “Definitely. Oh man. That was a blessing. But yeah, it definitely helped. It was fun.”
(What was the energy like in that last period there on the goal line?) – “Amazing. It was fun. It was just one of those periods where it was live and you can really play ball and you can just let it loose and really show what you got. I just loved the energy. We were hyped with the ones and we were hyped with the twos. And we carried that same energy. We made some mistakes, but at the end of the day, we’re just getting better and that’s what it’s really about.”
(You’re probably getting to work with LB Benardrick McKinney. What’s it like to have him as a teammate and also how long does it take you guys to get that chemistry and communication together?) – “Oh, it’s amazing. He’s a big dude. He’s willing to learn. He goes hard and communicates. That’s the one thing he does; when he doesn’t know something, he asks. He tries to get better. Right now you can get chemistry, but the real chemistry is in a game and you really see when the bullets are flying who’s really with you. We’re just getting better every day and I definitely love having him next to me.”
(First day of pads on. I know it’s early, but did you learn anything about this team today?) – “We compete. We really are competing. Even the young guys – they came in and they’re doing the same thing. They’re feeding off the older guys and that’s what it’s all about – the young guys feeding off the older guys. The older guys – we set the example. I’m definitely proud of this team. Today is the first day, but we’ve definitely got more days to go.”
(Was there a hit today where you felt back to football? One that you made or somebody hit you with?) – “It wasn’t me. It was ‘B-Mac’ (Benardrick McKinney) on the goal line. He was bringing it. But it’s football at the end of the day. It’s all good.”
(A lot of the defensive players have talked about they need to do better stopping the run this year. When you look at film of last year, what did you see in terms of the run defense?) – “Technique and knockback. For us, you know where to be but sometimes your technique is not good and just the knockback. It’s not about just being in the right gap. It’s about being in the right gap and stopping them and not getting the extra two or three yards; and me especially, I know I have to work on that and it’s definitely an emphasis this offseason.”
(Does it get discouraging when guys are running on you like that?) – “I mean, yeah. Running the ball is one of those things of if you can’t stop the run, it don’t matter how they pass or whatever they do, they’re going to keep running it. So as a defense, there’s an emphasis to stop the run.”
(I know you get some visitors on the sidelines. When you’ve got a big boy like Vince Wilfork out there, what does it mean to have a guy like that out there watching practice?) – “You want to show that we still have that tenacity he had when he was playing. He played in this defense. He knows how it works, so it was one of those things where you want to make the older guys proud. Especially me – I went up to him just to say hi to him, but at the end of the day you want to make the older guys that played in this defense proud and that’s what it’s about. That’s what football is about – continuing the legacy and continue being a great defense.”
(I know you take pride in a lot of that stuff because of the history and all that. What does it mean to have Head Coach Brian Flores – he always has those type of guys come around – so what does that mean for a program like this?) – “It means a lot. It means the younger guys know that you can see the success older guys had and the cool thing is, is these older guys; they come back and they teach us. They give us the tools. They give us a little insight of what to look for and we take those nuggets and we apply it to today’s game, so we definitely appreciate it.”
(Last week when you talked about CB Xavien Howard, you were so supportive of him. Just to have him out here even though he’s not able to practice and supporting you guys, high-fiving you guys – what does that support mean?) – “’X’ (Xavien Howard) is ‘X.’ He loves us. We love him. That’s what it’s all about. We support him. He supports us. That’s one thing you can never say about ‘X.’ He’s a great teammate. He’s a great guy and we all love him, so we’re going to be good.”
(What stands out defending this offense now compared to…) – “They’re fast. They are fast. We have some young guys. We have some weapons. Our o-line; they’re ready to get better. They come out there every day and they’re getting better. They’re communicating. Tua (Tagovailoa) – he comes in the linebacker room. He asks questions. It’s one of those things where our team is truly trying to get better and we’re truly trying to be the best team we can be, so I’m excited. That definitely is encouraging so I’m definitely excited.”
WR Albert Wilson
(I know you talked about this before; but obviously the year away, can you describe what that was like, as far as what you did to keep yourself in shape? It looked like you came back in good shape.) – “Yeah, I’ve been with the same trainers, (Pete) Bommarito’s for the last three years since I got down to Miami. I’ve just stayed with those guys. But you know, time heals all. Just being able to have that time off to be able to rest that hip and rest everything else, that’s pretty much it.”
(How about being refreshed and not taking hits for a year?) – “For sure. Anything that is banged up, it has a limit. When you’re healthy, that limit is pushed a little further. So that’s how I feel right now, not having a limit.”
(Your explosiveness looks like it’s still there. We saw some shake and bake earlier this week with some of the deep routes. How do you feel now compared to throughout your career?) – “I feel pretty good. I feel explosive, I feel fast. I’m just coming out here to work again. It’s just a blessing being able to get out here.”
(Is the first day of pads more for the big guys? Is it more for the big guys, they get more excited?) – “It’s just the physicality of the game. The mindset, the toughness, the extra weight that you have on you, just to grind it out. It’s just all of those things put together. But yeah, you definitely want to be able to bring those big guys into – in OTAs, they don’t get to do nothing. The beginning of camp they don’t get to do nothing. For them to finally get the pads on, I know that makes them feel a little bit more better.”
(LB Jerome Baker was out here a few minutes ago talking about the speed on offense, and what it’s like from a defensive perspective. What is it like for you guys? What are you seeing out of this offense now in terms of the ability to stretch the field vertically as opposed to past years? How much better does it seem?) – “I don’t know. I think we’ve stretched the field pretty good the last time I was out on the field. We definitely got new pieces that can do it well. It’s just exciting that we all can get out here and work.”
(A lot of people are saying you’ve been one of the studs of camp so far. Are you pleased with your performance?) – “I’m just happy that I’m able to get out here to play. It’s been a long time coming. I still feel like I’ve just got to prove myself every day, day in and day out.”
(What’s your chemistry level with QB Tua Tagovailoa? Obviously you weren’t here with him last year. What is it like at this point?) – “I think it’s pretty good. These last two offseasons, we got a lot of work in. When he first got here before I opted out, we spent the whole offseason together, and this past offseason. We didn’t work at the same facility, but we were close and we got a lot of work in. I feel like the chemistry just picked up where it left off from the offseason.”
(Does something stand out to you about the ball QB Tua Tagovailoa throws?) – “He has a really nice catchable ball. It’s not too tough to catch, it’s not darting at you. It’s pretty much easy to grab and go. I like it.”
C Matt Skura
(When you signed here, obviously because you’ve been an accomplished NFL center, we all kind of assumed you’d be starting and I know C/G Michael Dieter has been with the first group primarily. Are you surprised by this turn of events; do you still hope to win the starting job?) – “It’s always about competition. That’s one of the reasons why I signed here. Nothing is just going to be given to you. Even when I’ve started a bunch in Baltimore, like every season you wipe the slate clean. You’ve got to earn your keep. That’s what’s been a fun part of this whole training camp; continuing to compete, holding myself accountable and holding everyone else accountable too.”
(How do you feel like you have performed so far early?) – “I feel like pretty good, but there’s always things that you can improve on. I’m just very critical on myself, nitpicking on footwork, hand placement, pad leverage, assignment, communication and all those things. I feel like every day it’s been getting more and more comfortable, getting to know the new playbook and all that stuff. Every day just take one step forward.”
(Has Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre told you if you will get a chance with the ones eventually? Obviously, it’s been all C/G Michael Deiter at this point.) – “Yeah, I’m just going to keep that between Lem and I. But it’s been fun competing.”
(What was it like the first day in pads?) – “It was a lot of fun. The energy was great. It’s always fun getting to compete against the d-line, especially in the goal line and backed-up periods when the defense makes a play, so they’re all riled up and the very next play the offense scores or has a big play. It’s always cool to have that energy. It kind of makes it fun again like little league football. I thought it was great and tomorrow we get to do it again.”
(When you’re an offensive lineman and they stop you at the goal line and they celebrate like they just scored a touchdown, what does that make you feel?) – ”Well, at first you get a little ticked off but I think it motivates you that much more. Like, ‘alright we really have to punch it in this time. Last time was a fluke. We’ve just got to score.’ You just give it that much more effort and it drives up your intensity a little bit.”
(The snapping issues last year should not tarnish your NFL career. You’ve been a fine NFL center. With that being said, is that something you’ve worked on this offseason? Have you felt it was still an issue lingering from last year and have you spent a lot of time on it? How’s it going?) – “I would say probably a week after our last game at Baltimore against the Bills, I was back home snapping. I wiped the slate clean. Go back to the most basic fundamentals of my stance, technique. It’s kind of like a golf swing, just going back to the very basics. Pretty much since January, almost every day, I’m trying to get snaps just because yeah, it was an issue last year. I felt like going into this camp, I’ve definitely been able to turn that corner and now I can just focus on playing football and having fun. It’s definitely been something I’ve been working on and something that I just want to continue to be consistent with.”
T Austin Jackson
(This is the first day in pads. Once you put the real pads on – WR Albert Wilson was just saying that OTAs and all of that, I wouldn’t say are boring for you guys but is this when the real work starts?) – “Yeah, definitely. We’ve been playing football without pads but no one does that in real life. Well, we are in real life. (laughter) But it’s just good to get the pads on and actually get some good thumps going and see what we can get better on.”
(You’re going to serve as an ambassador for a bone marrow donation. Can you talk about that?) – “Yeah, so about two years ago I became a donor for my younger sister, who has Diamond-Blackfan anemia, which is a rare blood disorder. She was born with but like a lot of kids with blood cancers, blood disorders and any type of anemias, their condition worsens as they get older. So about two years ago, I became a bone marrow transplant donor for my little sister, and I entered what Be The Match has, which is called the registry, where you sign up and get in the registry to become a donor. Tomorrow we’re having a truck come out and I want to encourage more people to donate. There’s like a rate of 30 percent – there’s a 30 percent chance that a minority would get a donor if they don’t immediately match with one of their siblings versus an 85 percent chance success rate that a majority person would get a donor if they don’t match in their family. Really, I just want to start getting the word out and talking about it. I went through it in the middle of a football season and came back and still had a great season. It’s not as bad as you think and it’s such an easy way to save a life. So easy.”
(How grateful are you that you have the platform as an NFL player to speak out about a cause like that?) – “I’m incredibly grateful. I’m blessed. I’m blessed beyond belief in these last couple of years and I’m really thankful. I’m a man of faith, if you can’t tell already. I’m really thankful and I’m going to do my best to keep getting the word out there and let everybody know.”
(How is your sister doing?) – “She’s doing great. She’s getting to meet up with a bunch of other kids too, kind of in a hospital like Make A Wish and stuff like that. She’s made a full recovery. She went from going to the doctor like once every two weeks to like never, so that’s great. She’s not the only one though. There are a lot more kids like that, and that’s why I really want to help those kids too by getting the word out.”
(Did anyone on the d-line impress you today, the first day the pads came on?) – “They all impressed me. Every single one of them. Each one of them is great. I’m excited to line up against them again tomorrow.”
