Griff Whalen – June 1, 2016
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Wide Receiver Griff Whalen
(On how he sees himself fitting in as a receiver on this team) – “(Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has been great working with all of us and I think he has a clear picture of how he can use different guys that best utilizes their skill set. So there’s a lot of great competition. We have a pretty good room right now. So that’s really good. We’re pushing each other and just making each other get better every day.”
(On why he picked Miami) – “Quite a few reasons. Just weighing things (such as) how I think I can fit in schematically with offenses, opportunities roster-wise and (Offensive Coordinator) Coach Clyde Christensen coming down here. (It) felt like it was a good fit.”
(On how much his opinion changed when he saw the team draft two receivers) – “It really doesn’t make a difference. We’ve got, like you guys said, we’ve got (WR) Jarvis (Landry), we’ve got (WR) DeVante (Parker) and after that it’s competition. They’re going to play who they think can help us the most and there are a lot of different roles to fill. Guys can do different things. Special teams is a big factor. So the more competition the better that room is going to be.”
(On how much it helps that he’s been through this before) – “Yeah, it helps a lot. On two sides – one, just physically having done it and having reps and experience with it – but mentally too. Just having gone through it and now knowing that you can’t just sit there and count roster spots every day and try to keep track of that stuff. You just have to focus on taking one day at a time and making the most out of each practice.”
(On if he’s still doing the plant diet and how long he has done that) – “Yes I am. It’s been a little over two years now. For me it was … growing up I didn’t know anything about like nutrition or eating healthy or anything like that. Through college and then the first couple of years after I graduated, I’m kind of that underdog role. I’m looking for anything I can do to give myself an advantage. Whether it’s training, diet, anything like that. So it was just kind of through a long process of researching nutrition and learning how important that is to training. It doesn’t matter how hard you train, there’s a certain limit to how much you can do on the field or in the weight room. After a point, nutrition plays a huge part in how quickly you can recover, how hard you can push yourself the next day, back-to-back days and stuff like that. I feel like it’s helped me tremendously and given me a big edge, in that regard.”
(On a typical breakfast, lunch and dinner) – “Breakfast is like an oatmeal, fruit, and whatever else I want to throw into it. And then lunch and dinner, a rice and bean kind of dish is pretty typical. Lots of veggies. A salad. I make a lot of smoothies because I can just throw greens and fruit and stuff in there. But rice and beans or lentils, stuff like that is pretty common for me.”
(On if it’s hard to not lose weight) – “It hasn’t been actually. When I started, I was a little heavier than I wanted to be. I probably lost about five pounds. (I) went from like 195 to 190 (pounds) and that probably was over the course of a month or two. I’ve been 190 (pounds) since then, consistently. I would have thought the same thing and I remember recently hearing about a former player, David Carter, who did the same kind of thing. He was actually able to gain more weight and get stronger on a plant-based diet, which was interesting for me to hear because I would have thought the same thing – that it was better for lean guys and losing weight or whatever. But that kind of proved otherwise. So, no, it hasn’t been hard to maintain my weight.”
(On if he craves anything two years later) – “I really don’t, which surprises me. I mean I grew up eating sugar, cereal, candy, ice cream, you name it. So it surprises me and it’s been kind of cool to learn. I still love learning more about this stuff and reading up on it. I’ve actually learned a bit about that and they think it has to do with the microbes that are in your intestine and gut that those actually send signals to your brain, which is kind of crazy. So after you go several weeks or a month without eating something, you kind of change that microbe make-up in your body so you don’t get the cravings you used to get the same way, if you can get past that point.”
(On how his diet has changed over the last couple years and if he’s talked to other players about this) – “Yeah, it comes up all the time. When we sit down at lunch, it’s hard to not notice that all I’ve got is veggies on my plate. So yeah, it comes up all the time and guys are genuinely interested. ‘Why do you do that?’ And I kind of explain. I don’t go out of my way to try and convince anybody that that’s what they should be doing but I explain some of the research I’ve come across and how I felt doing it. But yeah, it comes up pretty frequently and I pretty much hear like ‘Oh, that’s really cool but I could never do that.’ I hear that all the time.”
(On if he has talked to DE Cameron Wake about his diet) – “I haven’t talk to him about it. We were in (the lunch room) with Mary Ellen (Bingham), our nutritionist, (and we were) kind of talking about the similar stuff we do. But I haven’t had a big conversation about it.”
(On when the last time he has had meat) – “The last time, you know the first thing I did was about a month of seafood. So I kept salmon in (my diet) and stuff for a while – for about a month I think – and then (I) cut that out. That was a little over two years ago in April when I did that.”
(On how he treats himself) – “It’s mostly with like maybe a pastry or a dessert – something like that. I already found right up the street here on University (Drive), there’s a vegan bakery that’s got some pretty good stuff. I don’t generally do dessert with a bunch of meals so that would be something I would do.
(On where he is playing in the offense and how much special teams plays a role in making the team) – “Yeah, inside and outside. Formationally, we move all over the place – motions and shifts and stuff – which is great. That’s something I’m pretty used to doing. I was mostly a slot guy in Indy but I was kind of surprised to figure out after, I think it was after my first two years, it was almost an even 50-50 of outside snaps and inside snaps, just because of how we end up formationally. I think I’ll be all over the place (here) and then special teams, I feel comfortable helping out wherever they think I can – whether that’s returning or blocking for returns, covering kicks and punts. I have some experience doing all of that and I’m pretty comfortable with it.”
(On how much it benefits him to know some of this offense from his time in Indianapolis) – “I actually wouldn’t say that I do. It has a lot of similarity to what we did (in Indianapolis) – a lot of similar concepts – but all the terminology is new for me. So I don’t have any real experience with it. (Offensive Coordinator) Clyde (Christensen) has a lot (of experience with it), obviously from when Peyton (Manning) was in Indy. But this is new for me too. It’s great that it’s a similar kind of structure but (it’s) still all new terminology that we’re getting used to.”
(On if he thought that he would be in Indianapolis for a while and if he’s surprised that he’s with Miami now) – “I never really knew. I was always, especially the first couple of years, kind of that bubble guy. The first couple of years, who knew? I could have been gone any day. That’s just the way that works. I was just doing my best to take it one day at a time. I feel like you’re not really able to think long-term like that, or like I want to play eight, ten years in this city. That would have been great, I guess; but just the way it worked out, I felt good about this opportunity down here.”
(On his impressions about QB Ryan Tannehill) – “Really good. I didn’t know a lot about him coming in. We played against him a couple of times but us both being on offense, I didn’t get to watch him a lot or anything that week. But yeah, I’ve been really impressed. His grasp of the offense is really impressive this early on. It has been good to have that leadership in the huddle – getting everybody lined up and stuff as everybody’s trying to get a handle on the new offense. His skill set is really impressive too. He seems to see the field really well (and he) has the arm strength and everything. (He’s a) good athlete, obviously, playing receiver at one point. I’ve been really impressed.”
