Dowell Loggains – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(The play you guys have gotten at guard, obviously losing G Josh Sitton is huge, has C/G Ted Larsen been adequate in your mind? Are you looking for more from that position where maybe you’d consider C Jake Brendel or C Wesley Johnson?) – “Ted has stepped in and fulfilled the role for us. Obviously, it’s a big hit when you lose a player like Josh Sitton and that’s not going to be replaced by … Very few guards in the league can replace him, because he’s one of the top guards in the NFL. But Ted, he’s played solid to this point. Obviously, there’s definitely things we need to improve. Some of the stuff in pass pro last week, we got a little sloppy as a unit and allowed a little bit of push that we need to get cleaned up and we worked hard this week to clean some of those things up.”
(Incorporating RB Kalen Ballage, is that something that Head Coach Adam Gase was thinking of? Had you put a bug in his ear as far as some Wildcat, which obviously, he did in college?) – “Yes, sir. He had the one big game where he scored a bunch of touchdowns. I think against Texas Tech he scored like seven or eight touchdowns in a game in college. He does a really good job with that stuff. You guys saw the explosiveness. You guys see it every day when you’re here. But the explosiveness … He hit that run that got called back for the hold. At that point, I thought it was going to bring a little energy to the offense right then and punch one in, in the run game right there out of the Wildcat package. The way the game played out, obviously, we had a package for him with more plays and we’ve had a couple weeks now. As you start to learn your personnel a little bit more, you start to grow those packages. Sometimes you put it in, but you don’t call it until a week or two later. We have plays off those things. He’s obviously a guy that could help, but we have some depth at running back. We have three good players back there that can help us.”
(What’s the biggest challenge the Packers defense poses?) – “It’s a good unit. You don’t want to take away from anyone, but those two interior guys are really good players, (Kenny) Clark and (Mike) Daniels. They’re good football players. It’s as good a group as we’re going to play at this point inside, so the guards and center are going to have a challenge this week and they need to step up and play well for us.”
(You guys won a game on Sunday, but got 6 points out of the offense. How do you rectify that?) – “Our goal always is to score one more point than they did. Obviously, it was a team win, because the defense scored a touchdown and we weren’t able to. But we didn’t execute the way we needed to. At times this year, we’ve relied too much on splash plays and not execution and the detail of those things. When you don’t get those splash plays and you don’t execute the way you need to, you’re going to get into some slug fights. One thing we’ve done a really good job of this year in those games is we didn’t turn the ball over. I think in the NFL, we have the second fewest pre-snap penalties in the NFL. You guys know the old saying, ‘To win, you can’t lose first,’ and that’s what the offense did. We did enough not to lose the game and the other two phases played really well and we were able to get out with a win and we didn’t beat ourselves. If I’m looking for a positive, that’s what I would say it was, because that’s about the only one.”
(With the splash plays, losing WR Albert Wilson limits that. He was your biggest big-play guy the first few weeks of the season. Do you have to change your offense because of that?) – “You don’t change your offense and we still have guys that can do it. ‘19’ (Jakeem Grant) can do it, ‘32’ (Kenyan Drake), ‘10’ (Kenny Stills), ‘11’ (DeVante Parker). Those guys have done it. You just can’t rely on those things. You have to rely on execution and detail of your assignment. Those are things that we need to work on and improve. We need to coach it better and we need to execute better, because you can’t rely on splash plays to score 28 (points). You play 65 plays in a game, you can’t rely on six, seven plays to win the game for you. We need to put drives together and finish drives.”
(Do you feel like since the quarterback change, has that made it more apt for you to look at no turnovers as a goal whereas maybe more than previously with QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “No, sir. I feel like when we first got here in the offseason, one of the big things we wanted to clean up was some of the discipline stuff, the pre-snap penalties and the turnovers. One of the biggest stats in winning and losing is the turnover ratio. We knew if you can finish plus-five, you have a chance to have a really good football season. We’re at plus-five right now. We really do believe in the building that before you can win, you can’t lose. A lot of teams in the NFL right now when you look and say, ‘Why did we win or lose a game?’ Well most times it’s (like in) the Cincinnati game (when) we had too many turnovers. We played two-and-a-half really good quarters of team football and we turned the ball over at the end. If you don’t turn those balls over and you punt or you take a sack, whatever it is, most times you’re going to have a chance. It’s going to come down to the last series of the game. Turnovers have always been a big priority for us and it’ll continue to be.”
(With RB Kenyan Drake, his versatility, how important is that especially with how WR Albert Wilson is gone? You have a player that can do so much for you guys.) – “Kenyan is a big part of this offense. We need to continue to find ways to get him the ball and not just in the passing game but get him carries as well. When the game didn’t go the way we wanted, obviously, we kind of got off. We’d like the number to be closer or more similar (with) how many touches each guy has. Kenyan is a guy that has a lot of flexibility. He can flex out and run routes. He can catch balls and do those things. He’s also a good running back from the backfield. We need to do a better job using him, keep making sure we keep getting him the ball. He’s a guy that can definitely score for us and we need those guys.”
(How do you make sure that discrepancy isn’t so wide, the 20 to three carries?) – “We just have to do a better job during the game. Each game is going to sort out differently. Sometimes he’s involved more in the passing game than he is getting carries and doing those things. Sometimes it’s based on other things. We felt the inside stuff we were a little bit better at and Frank (Gore) was doing a nice job of finding holes and getting skinny and getting through. Not that Kenyan can’t do that, but that’s Frank’s game. The way the game was playing out, Kenyan was getting used more in the passing game. So, it’s something that we’ll definitely monitor. I don’t see any discrepancy that’ll happen in the future, but it could or it could go the other way where Frank doesn’t get more carries or ‘27’ (Kalen Ballage) starts to play a little bit. We’ll continue to use those guys and try to put them in the best position to be successful.”
(How much was WR Kenny Stills able to give you guys last week and can you get a bigger package for him I guess this week?) – “Kenny battled through some things. I don’t know that he was full speed, but I don’t know if anyone in the NFL at this point is full speed. He battled and fought through some pain and soreness and all of those things. As he gets healthier, there will be plays definitely designed for him. He’s a guy that can do a lot of different things and he can win on deep balls for us.”
Darren Rizzi – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(We have a few rookie kickers in the league this year. Would you say that K Jason Sanders has been the best of them?) – “I don’t know about that. That’s one I’d have to think about for a minute. Certainly, I’m very pleased with where he’s at. Any time with a rookie kicker, you’re certainly expecting some peaks and valleys. The Chargers just signed (Michael) Badgley from UM. He had a short stint with them, now he’s back. I’m kind of thinking through the guys. Eddy Pineiro obviously had an injury and he’s done for the year. Daniel Carlson is on his second team. With every rookie class, kickers are kind of a weird position because it may take a guy a couple of years to catch on. It’s one of those things you have to track for a couple years. Right now, obviously we’re very happy with where Jason is consistency-wise kind of through this point in the season, but we still have a long way to go, so we’ll see how that goes.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage and with CB Cornell Armstrong, would you say special teams work in sum has been average, a little above average, well above average?) – “I like where both guys are. As I said last week, I’m a hard grader, so I don’t know if I’m the right guy to ask on the grading system. I made mention of this earlier in the season, I really thought Cornell Armstrong, since the day he walked in is probably, if not the most improved rookie, certainly one of the most improved and one of the most improved guys on the team. I think he did a great job of picking up special teams and kind of just getting better every preseason game, every practice. I’ve really liked his progression. Ballage was in a little bit of a different situation when he got here because he had a lot of experience. He had much more experience. He played for a special teams coach that coached in the NFL, so he was a little bit ahead of the curve as far as rookies go. My expectation level for him was maybe a little bit higher than some of the other rookies. The games that he’s been active, he’s obviously played a bunch of roles. We’ve had him back there as a kick returner, we’ve had him as a gunner, we’ve had him as a cover guy. Cornell as well. Both of those guys have worn probably a few more hats than most rookies would. They have high play totals. Right now, you’d have to be pretty pleased with where they are. I don’t really want to put a grade on it yet. Like I said, there’s still a lot of games to go. They’ve been very productive in terms of what we’ve asked them to do so far and played multiple positions, so that is certainly a plus.”
(By our count, we see that they need two tackles this week just to make it through the game. That means that they’re going to take from you in terms of one of your running backs, Brandon Bolden or Senorise Perry. Who plays more jobs on that unit?) – “All of those guys right now. Just as far as running backs go, all of those guys in the last few weeks have been four-core guys. They’ve all been on all four teams. As far as the actives go, I’ve said this before, it’s contingency plan, contingency plan, contingency plan. That’s what a special teams coach does. Depending on who the actives end up being, we’re going to have a plan in place for all. We kind of have ongoing discussions and we’ll kind of have a final discussion at the end of the week and see what is the best scenario for us. I have to have a plan if anybody goes down – a tackle, running back, safety, corner. Whoever it is, we’re going to kind of have a contingency for all of those. We’ll have a plan in place and kind of see where we’re at. All of those guys have been four-core guys the last few games when Ballage, Perry and Bolden have been up. Those guys have all been four-core guys in the last weeks. Senorise Perry obviously got a little bit more time so far this year than Ballage because he was inactive for a couple of games, but they’ve all been integral parts of what we’re doing, for sure.”
(How many four-core guys do you have and is it now a body type?) – “You kind of have your ideal guy at the beginning of the season, but as we all know, when injuries happen, you might not go to ideal. You go to the next man up and it is what it is. If you think through the offensive guys right now, the three running backs are four-core guys. (Leonte) Carroo, since he’s been active with injuries and whatnot, he’s been a guy that’s been a four-core guy. Defensively, obviously Mike Hull is a guy that only came back last week, but he’s a four-core guy for us. The secondary, obviously Walt Aikens is a guy, Cornell Armstrong has been a four-core guy. It depends on the game, the game plan and things like that, but he has been as well, so those guys are the guys. Stephone Anthony is a guy. When (Martrell) Spaight has been active, if he ends up being active this week, he’s a guy that’s a potential four-core guy. You have about seven or eight guys that are kind of your group there.”
(They seem to be getting smaller. Is that just because of the changes with the kickoff rule?) – “In the beginning of the season, with the way the makeup of our roster was, we had a few more starters play on a couple of teams, so that kind of knocks down a couple of the core guys. It depends on where we are right now with the roster. We’ve kind of upped our core players and maybe taken a little bit off of some of the guys where you may have a starter or two playing one or two teams. The more core players you have at the game, the less those guys (play). It’s kind of a formula every week. It’s never the same. That’s the challenge for me. It’s never the same. It’s certainly not going to be the same in Game 10 as it was in Game 1, that’s for sure. That’s all across the league. We kind of work that formula every week.”
(You mentioned last week that you went over something before the game and then it happened in the game. From what I understand, you were yelling at him to get on the line or get off the line and so was the ref. How often does that happen?) – “Are you talking about the Houston game with (Cordrea) Tankersley when he was behind the 40-yard line?”
(Yes.) – “When the new rules went into place, the officials changed their dynamics and alignments. Now, they’re kind of watching that set-up zone, that 15-yard area. They have one official watching the front line, they have another official watching the back. That guy is on the 40. He’s trying to help the guys out initially. When you’re just getting set up, he kind of gives you the friendly reminder. What happened with Tankersley was he started up and backed up. So when the guy walked in to say ‘watch the 40-yard line’ and then the official backed out, then Tankersley backed up. He tried to yell to him real quick. I saw it as well, I came up and tried to yell it to him real quick. He just lost where he was on the field with his feet. That’s what happens. To answer the second part of your question, I’ll speak special teams-wise. There’s certain things in the game that are unique to special teams that the officials will remind you of. I’ll give you an example. Field goal – they make that big push now about covering the long snapper. Usually, the guy is in charge of that. Not every official, but usually, the guy will walk up and give you a gentle reminder, either in the beginning of the game or some guys do it every down – ‘remember, you can’t cover the center.’ The officials don’t want to call those. They really don’t. They don’t want to call the ticky-tack stuff. It’s not good for them, it’s not good for anybody. So a lot of times they’ll give you a heads up on things like that. That’s just one example. That 40-yard marker, that eight guys in the set-up zone, is another one. They’ll say ‘you guys know you have to be in here,’ and they’ll give you a gentle reminder. The new kickoff line rule with everybody up on the 34-yard line now, within a yard. Usually, when a guy is handing the kicker the ball, you see him talking to the guys. That’s usually what he’s saying. Those are things they don’t want to call. When you talk to the officials, they don’t like calling those ticky-tack things. In our situation, if you’re over the line, you have to throw the flag and that’s kind of what happened on that one.”
(A couple weeks ago, we talked about your manual for NFL stadiums and how to kick in those certain stadiums. What does it say about Lambeau Field?) – “Lambeau Field is an interesting field. Obviously, the beginning of the season, middle of the season and end of the season are going to be different times of year. The weather is always a factor there. What’s the wind like? There’s a little bit of a crosswind there. It’s obviously a natural grass field. All of those things play into the stats. It’s one of those stadiums that a lot like most northern stadiums, where it’s playing totally different the beginning of the year as to the middle of the year. I would consider this the middle of the year right now as opposed to the end of the year. Middle of the year, it depends on what kind of day you get, the wind and all of that kind of stuff. Obviously, we’ll get out there and kind of test it out. They haven’t played on the field in a couple of weeks, so you’re thinking the field conditions would be decent. We’ll see what the precipitation is like, rain before the game or snow or whatever. Obviously, the wind, the weather, all of those things will play into it. It’s been interesting. They’ve had a very consistent kicker there for a long time, so that kind of plays into the stats as well. I look more at the opposing kicker. So when I’m looking at Lambeau Field and how it plays in the middle of the season, I’m looking at the opposing kickers. I’m usually not looking at the Packers’ kicker. Mason Crosby has obviously been there a long, long time. So you’re kind of seeing how other teams have come in, how they’ve done and how it’s kind of played out like that. Overall, it’s kind of middle of the road. It’s not drastically good or drastically bad. It’s kind of a middle-of-the-road type of deal.”
(Are you also looking at punters, like how many opposing punters punt inside the 20?) – “Absolutely. We’re looking at the same type of things. On game day, you can never predict what exactly it’s going to be; but you’re kind of looking at the history of the stadium, how the punters have done as well, what their success has been. Obviously, when you get there on game day, sometimes you can throw that out because you could have a crazy day. If we get some snow or rain or wind or whatever, that certainly will play into it. We have to do a great job with the football and all of those things and we’ll see what it’s like when we get out there on Sunday.”
(It’s the second time this year that one of your guys has got an AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award. Do they get an extra sticker on your board when they win something like that?) – “(Matt Haack) got a belt this week. You guys know we give out the special teams belt. It’s hard not to give the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week the belt, that’s what I joke around. I’m very proud of Matt, I’m very proud of Jakeem (Grant). I think individual awards are great. No different than I said when Jakeem won his, the other 10 guys had helped him with his situation. With Matt Haack, (it’s) the same thing. Our gunners did a great job last week, our protection was very good, John Denney was very good. (It was a) solid game by everybody around. Usually it takes some help to get one of those awards, but great job by Matt Haack. Obviously with the field position last week, it really played a major part of our game. I think the Jets’ average starting point was the 18-yard line for the entire game, not only after punts but kickoffs as well. The field position was huge last week. That’s something we constantly talk about. Seven punts inside the 20 for him and I think all nine punts inside the 25 if I’m not mistaken. Just a really great job by him and our coverage. One of the things we talked about last week was Andre Roberts had been the top punt returner statistically in the AFC, so limiting his opportunities and when he does get returns, having great coverage and rallying to the ball, great pursuit, great angles. We did a great job in both. Not only the punting part of it, but the coverage part of it as well. I’m certainly proud of Matt and kind of what he’s done.”
Matt Burke – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(It seems hard to be in your job this week facing the Green Bay Packers and QB Aaron Rodgers.) – “It’s a fun challenge for us. He’s obviously one of the great players in the league – great quarterbacks in the league. It’s going to be a challenge. It’ll be fun.”
(How do you explain what your vision was for S Minkah Fitzpatrick and then what the execution was last week?) – “Obviously with Minkah, we’re excited about him as a player and his talent and what he brings to the table. We’re just trying to find different ways to get him on the field in different spots and utilize his skillset. Every time we’ve done that and put him in a spot to perform, he’s performed well. That was the vision: just keep finding ways to get him some different playing time and utilize … One of the reasons, even going back to the draft and why we brought him in, was his versatility in terms of what he brings to the table from that point of view. We’re just trying to find ways to utilize those different skills that he has.”
(Were you really thinking cornerback back then for S Minkah Fitzpatrick? I know you guys made that move in August but when you drafted him, were you thinking if you had to, if things went wrong, we could play this guy at corner?) – “You have all sorts of scenarios. I don’t think we ruled anything out with Minkah. Every time we ask him to do something, he shows that he can do it. Obviously earlier in his college career, he had some of that experience on the outside part of the field. Kind of all bets are open with him and again, the more we keep giving him, the more he keeps responding. Play to play, game to game, series to series, we’re just trying to find different ways to utilize him in the best way possible and find a chance to get him in a matchup that we like or in a spot that we like or in a call that we like or whatever it is. I wouldn’t say it was like, in the draft, ‘This is a guy that’s going to play corner for us or be this for us,’ but that was obviously one of the biggest things in terms of going through that process with Minkah was saying this guy is real versatile and has a lot of different abilities that we can try to take advantage of. I feel like we’ve all talked in here before about the way the league is going and the passing game is going and the type of athletes you need on the field and those sort of things, so that’s a valuable weapon for us to have.”
(Your relationship with S Reshad Jones is what and did you need to rehabilitate that relationship this week?) – “No, I don’t think so. I know (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has been in here a bunch and probably spent too much time going through all of this. We’ve had a lot of conversations – the whole defense, myself, Reshad and myself, Adam and myself. I think we’re all on the same page. We have a big challenge ahead of us this week, so we’re really trying to move forward. That’s been addressed with the team, with Adam, with myself and the defense, and I think everyone is on the same page moving forward. We’re going to try to go win a ballgame in Green Bay on Sunday.”
(Everybody is saying that you’re all on the same page now so the question is what wasn’t on the same page?) – “Obviously there was some sort of disconnect. I can’t really get to the details or specifics of how that came about. I think any time anything happens, the important thing for us is trying to move forward as a team. We’re in the middle of … This is hard. We’re in the middle of a tough stretch of games we need to win. There’s been a lot of conversations at all levels the last four days or whatever it’s been. I think the important thing for us is it’s been a very transparent process, I think, on all sides and where we’re at. I think we’re just trying to put it behind us and move forward.”
(Are you comfortable with the answer you got from S Reshad Jones as to why he took himself out of the game?) – “I’m comfortable with everything. I’m comfortable with where we’re at right now. I’m comfortable standing in front of you guys saying that we’ve gone through a process as an organization to address anything that we felt we needed to address and we feel like it’s been addressed. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of stuff to get ready for on Sunday. I’ve wasted too much energy on a lot of stuff already so my energy is going to be on getting ready for Green Bay.”
(What went into the strategy and the decision to implement a secondary rotation?) – “Again, I think we talked about after the Houston game (that we) obviously weren’t playing at the level that we want to be playing at and competing at. Adam (Gase) and I spent a lot of time together that weekend going through a lot of things. So as a coaching staff, we just felt there were different opportunities. I don’t want to say it’s a burden but we have a lot of good players back there. We have a lot of, we feel like, good players that we want to get on the field in different spots. We felt it wasn’t obviously working to just stick with one thing and do whatever we were doing in those two weeks prior. As an organization, as a coaching staff, we said this is one thing that may help some things. We made a lot of other changes that maybe weren’t as obvious from some schematic stuff and some little things that we were tweaking and working with. That was part of that process that we went through – through the half-off week – and through things we addressed, we said this is something that we’re going to try to use to get some players on the field and do some different things moving forward to not play like we played in the Detroit and Houston games.”
(S Reshad Jones has been a leader on this team, at least that’s our perception. Does his standing on this team change coming out of this?) – “I think he’s … Again, it’s been addressed with the defense. We try to be as transparent and as honest as possible. I know he’s had conversations with his teammates and how he’s going to move forward with things. I don’t see an issue with that.”
(Would the preference be to be able to determine at some point in the next few weeks which of the many roles you have S Minkah Fitzpatrick doing now is best for him or are you perfectly happy and think it’s good to move forward with using him in many different spots as you did last week?) – “I think every week there’s different challenges. There’s different players you’re trying to combat, there’s different schemes you’re trying to deal with. I don’t know that every week we would look at something and say it’s good to move him around so much this week. I think that’s just something we come into as we game plan for a week not just with him, (but) with all of our players. ‘This week, this is what we’re facing. These are the issues, the players, the scheme that we’re trying to attack, so how can we line these guys up in the best form possible to win a ball game this week?’ An advantage of having a player like Minkah is that he’s able to do that and slide between positions. Look, I know this is all getting brushed under the rug but there were a lot of players on Sunday that played multiple positions and that moved around. Bobby (McCain) played inside and outside. We had a rookie corner (Cornell Armstrong) get work for the first time all year. We had two d-tackles that we signed on whatever day – Tuesday or Wednesday – that played for us (and) played a lot of snaps for us. There were a lot of guys that did those types of things as well. I know Minkah obviously is a first-round draft pick and gets the spotlight, but there were a lot of guys that moved some spots and did some different things and new players that stepped up for us on Sunday also. That’s kind of where we’re at. Every week we’re going to try to find … ‘These are the guys that are available to us this week’ and where can we line those guys up to best win a ball game?”
(Do you feel like as a defense that your best ball is still ahead of you?) – “Yeah, I hope so. Hope is not a strategy but you hope the trend from last week is more where we’re heading than the weeks prior. If we execute the way we executed against Houston, then no. It won’t look like it did last week. If we execute and perform the way we performed last week then we’ll have a chance to hopefully put a decent showing together. Yeah, you’d like to think (your best ball is ahead of you). It’s whatever the quote is. ‘Once you think you’ve got it figured out, you’re screwed.’ We’re not approaching this week any different. The first thing I told the guys on Wednesday when we came in was … Last week we came in on Wednesday obviously coming off the two bad games and said ‘Look, all I know is we have to go back to work. Here’s some things we’re going to do. Here’s some solutions. Here’s what we’re trying to do.’ And we just went back to work. We went back to fundamentals, back to technique work and got back to kind of our roots. I think some of that showed on Sunday. So when I came back in yesterday, it was the same thing. Just because now we think we’re coming off a great win, we have to go back and do … The reason we got to Sunday is because of what we did Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and going into that. So we had to take the same approach yesterday and the same approach today, and hopefully that gives us the best chance to have a similar showing on Sunday.”
(You gave us a chuckle last week when you said ‘at some point you just have to learn some bleep.’) – “Yeah. I try not to curse as much anymore. (laughter)”
(Did they learn some bleep over the last week, do you think? Was that a factor?) – “I think it comes down to execution. My perspective … I think the term ‘something’s broken, we fixed it.’ I think that’s the wrong lens to look things through. I think as a defense we focused better, we executed better and the results showed. We had not many mental errors, we had not many missed tackles, we didn’t have some of those things. We had no pre-snap penalties, no post-snap penalties. We had those back-to-back face masks that were kind of a couple of freaky deals there. So some of those things … The errors, the error in our game were kind of cut out. I don’t know if that’s learning some (expletive) or if that’s just … And we tried to as a staff. Our job is to say, ‘What do we think these guys can do? What do we think we can put on these guys’ plates? How much, what schemes, physically, what we are asking these guys to do that they can or can’t?’ Maybe we found some things that we feel that these guys can execute better. We’re going to keep working to do that every week and find answers to put those guys in the position to make some plays.”
(We all have ego, we all have pride, we all have emotions as human beings – coaches, players, and journalists. What have you found to be the way you try to approach not just drawing up football plays but managing personalities, emotions, all of that stuff?) – “Honestly, I don’t know how you guys feel about me so we don’t have to get into that part of it, but I try to be as transparent as possible with you. I consider myself a pretty honest person, pretty genuine. That’s how I try to approach things with the players. At the end of the day, this is 15 years in the league for me. To me, I’ve always found guys just want to know you care about them, know you’re invested into what’s important to them, know you’re invested into the team. I try to make that clear with my actions and my words. I try to spend time with almost everybody on the defense. It was hard coming from a linebacker job when you’re obviously focused on a smaller group. I’m conscious to try to make sure I get around with all the groups and spend time with everybody and make sure I try to have conversations about what I think is in their best interests. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same page. We all want to win ball games. Everybody does. You guys do too. It’s probably easier to cover a team that’s winning ball games. At the end of the day, if they think your interests are trying to help them be a good player and be the best player they can be and help win ballgames and all of the focus is on that, then those egos tend to move to the side pretty quickly. If everyone’s focus and attention is on let’s get better and go win … That’s where I approach things from.”
(How has this week been for you emotionally? You had a really good week but this S Reshad Jones thing is taking center stage.) – “Yeah. Well, you guys know I don’t read anything you write. No offense. (laughter) I don’t have the energy. I’m spending too much energy doing other stuff. Honestly, the thing I was most disappointed about with all of it was that it took the focus off a great effort by all of those guys that played. That was a great … Just from an effort and energy standpoint. Don’t tell Adam (Gase) this … (laughter) But every possession was critical. It was a tight game the whole way. It felt like every possession that we were out there was critical. It was a 3-point game, a 3-point game, we’re going back out there and just the energy and emotion with those guys, it was cool, especially coming off a disappointing performance the week before. The emotional part for me was that I felt bad it took away from the highlight of some of those guys on what we accomplished on Sunday. Again, that’s the 24-hour rule. It’s the next day and we have to move on. This is not an easy offense we’re about to go face. I don’t have the time to be emotional about worrying about all of this other stuff. We have conversations we have to have conversations about, but I’ve moved on. We’ve moved on. Monday afternoon I’m looking at Green Bay getting ready to figure out how we’re going to contain this offense. It’s an emotional game and there are emotions involved in everything we do. In a sense, my job is easy because I have to focus on putting a plan together to go beat the Packers. That’s where I put my energy to try to win this next ball game.”
(True or False: last week all the players in your secondary knew there was to be a rotation system on game day?) – “I’m not going to get into the details of how everything went about. I think things were clear in terms of what our approach would be on Sunday.”
(So true?) – “That’s my answer.”
(Why would S Reshad Jones be upset about it if he knows. That’s what’s confusing to us.) – “I can’t answer questions for Reshad or for anybody else. I can tell you again, we’ve addressed what happened and I’ve had multiple conversations with Adam (Gase) and everybody else in the building about it. We’ve come to a point as an organization, as a team, that we’re settled where we’re at and again, we’re trying to put that behind us and move forward to the next game.”
(If you choose to do what you were going to do last week, which is not play S Reshad Jones on certain snaps, are you fully confident he will accept that and go back into the game on Sunday when called upon?) – “Yes.”
Kenny Stills – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
WR Kenny Stills
(With this offense, how do you get to that next level in terms of the efficiency so you can produce 24 points?) – “For us, it’s executing and getting first downs. Obviously you can’t stay on the field if you’re not getting first downs. Last week we did a better job of not turning the ball over; but we’ve got to execute, get first downs and move the ball down the field and when we’re in the red zone, we’ve got to get six points and not field goals.”
(How has this offense changed with QB Brock Osweiler? It seems like you guys are doing less roll-outs, movements and things of that nature.) – “I mean you’ve got to think about the game plan going in against the team that we’re playing as well. Obviously Brock and Ryan (Tannehill) are two different types of players, but also preparing for whatever holes we see in the defense. I think he’s done a good job. Obviously there’s plays that we wish that we could have had back, but we won a game last week. It was ugly, but we’re on the next one.”
(Did you ever get to play at Lambeau Field during your time with the New Orleans Saints?) – “Nope. Lambeau is one of the three stadiums I haven’t played in.”
(What are the other two?) – “The other two are San Francisco and Oakland. Yeah, it’s exciting. My pops played for the Packers for five years. It’s going to be pretty cool for me to go there. I know he’ll be there this weekend with my little brothers and stuff. I’m excited. It’ll be a big game for us.”
(The photographers are right on top of the field.) – “I hope they have some good awareness. (laughter)”
(Did you play with TE Jimmy Graham in New Orleans?) – “I did.”
(Thoughts or memories on playing with TE Jimmy Graham?) – “I was a rookie when I came in playing with him. Just his ability to go up and get the ball in the air and make plays and put points on the board … We had a sick offense when I was there. I was just able to learn from those guys. It’s fun to watch him play.”
(Your pop share any stories from Lambeau?) – “We really don’t talk football as much when he was in the league, but if you go on YouTube, there is a video of him kind of cheap-shotting somebody after the play – Bears-Packers rivalry. (laughter) We don’t really talk too much about NFL stuff, but I’m sure he has some great memories.”
(He didn’t cheap-shot a wide receiver, did he?) – “No, I think it was like a fullback or a running back or something. You guys can check it out.”
(Will he be wearing a Dolphins hat in Lambeau Field?) – “I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe my little brothers will have some Dolphins stuff on and he’ll have his Packers stuff on. There’s no hard feelings there.”
(Who’s he rooting for? He’s not rooting for the Dolphins?) – “I mean, you never know.”
(It sounds like you do.) – “I mean, you never know. I definitely think he’s rooting for the Dolphins, but he played there and I’m sure they’re doing something for their guys. Maybe he’ll have a split jersey, half-Dolphins, half-Packers.”
(Have you been paying attention to the cheerleader who took a knee?) – “A little bit. Yeah, I saw a story. I’m trying to get more information and reach out to her and thank her for her courage and just kind of communicate and see if I can do anything I can to help her.”
(We talked to the defensive players about what QB Aaron Rodgers does, but an opposing quarterback on offense, what kind of pressure can put on an opposing offense?) – “Sometimes you get put in a situation where you want to keep that quarterback off the field. We play a quarterback similar to that in Tom Brady, and you’re trying your best as an offense to make sure you’re putting points on the board every time and making sure you’re keeping that ball as long as possible.”
(Your thoughts on how Tuesday went?) – “Tuesday?”
(The mid-term elections.) – “Oh, yeah. I just saw today on my phone that there’s a possibility for some re-count stuff, so there’s still some hope. I wish things had gone a different way; but I like I said, there’s still some hope.”
(Nationally, obviously you had some issues with the President a couple of years ago. Were you encouraged by the direction the country has taken, or no?) – “Yes. Yeah, I was encouraged. I’d hoped … like I said, I guess we’ll say what comes from these re-counts if they happen, but I’m definitely encouraged by the amount of people that responded to me and what I was doing trying to give out tickets to get people out to go out and vote. Just the amount from my friends and family and people that I’ve reached out to, people that are getting involved and using their voice.”
Bobby McCain – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
CB Bobby McCain
(How does it feel to go up against QB Aaron Rodgers?) – “It’s my first time. I’ve never played him. I’m excited to play him. I’m excited to go to Lambeau (Field) and get a game in and hopefully come home with a win. We know we have a great challenge ahead of us. It’s a great opportunity. (It’s) a good opportunity for us to go out and show what we are capable of. We are playing one of the best quarterbacks in the game to ever play, so it’s a good opportunity for us.”
(Is QB Aaron Rodgers somebody you’ve watched on TV at any point and be like ‘it will be fun to go against him?’) – “One-hundred percent, one-hundred percent. You see all of the Hail Marys and all of the crazy sidearm passes he makes on TV and stuff like that. It’s an exciting opportunity and I can’t wait. I want to see in person what he’s all about and I know he’s one of the great ones.”
(You got some time at slot on Sunday. Did it feel like old times there a little bit?) – “Yeah, it felt good. I’m just doing whatever for the team. We got the W and that’s important. We’ve got guys that can do a lot such as myself, Minkah (Fitzpatrick), T.J. (McDonald), and guys like Torry (McTyer) and guys that play all different kinds of positions. We (have guys that) can go inside, outside, guys can play safety, corner. Being able to do more in this league will keep you in the league.”
(Being able to do what you guys did against the Jets against Green Bay, would it validate even more what you guys can do?) – “Yes. We hope we can come out and have the same performance or an even better performance. I’m never going to go into a game second-guessing our defense, second-guessing ourselves. We want to make sure we go in prepared and the goal is to come out with a win regardless of how it happens. Whether it’s an ugly win, a pretty win, no matter what it is, a win is a win in this league.”
(Do you feel like a lot of what you all did Sunday is stuff you can build on?) – “Yes, 100 percent. We had four turnovers and four sacks I believe. That’s stuff you can definitely build off of as a defense and come in and get patted on the back for a day, and then go back to work on Wednesday. It happens fast. It’s a quick turnaround and now we’re ready for ‘12’ – Aaron Rodgers – and the Packers. We can go in and it gives us confidence in ourselves and we know what we’re capable of.”
(Do you feel like as a defense your best ball is ahead of you still?) – “One-hundred percent, 100 percent. We still haven’t played our best ball. We still haven’t played our best game. Even after we had the turnovers and sacks this week, it’s a great standard; but we want to be above the standard.”
(What’s it going to be like playing against a guy like QB Aaron Rodgers with that type of confidence? You mentioned the Hail Marys and the time on the clock or no matter how tight the window, he thinks he can execute the play.) – “Yeah, he can throw any ball. As a DB, you have to plaster and play your man tight and keep your eyes on him because he does a great job scrambling out of the pocket. He does a good job on the move, throwing on the move, throwing deep balls. He can do it all. He’s special with his arm. He has a special mind and he’s a special player. He’s athletic, he can run around, so we have to corral him and try to get it done.”
(This was probably going to be a cold game at 1 p.m. Now at 4:25 p.m. it’s going to be colder.) – “Yeah, it’s going to be a little chilly. It’s going to be a little chilly but we’re out there for a purpose. We have a job to do. It’s going to suck but at the end of the day, it’s football. If you aren’t playing in the cold weather in December or January, then you aren’t worth a damn.”
(What’s the coldest game you’ve played in?) – “Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, the playoff Wild Card (game in January 2017). I’ve never played in a game that cold ever in my life. I literally had snot bubbles freezing on my nose.”
Adam Gase – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Did T Ja’Wuan James and T Laremy Tunsil look any better today?) – “It’s going to look … They’re going to be sore and banged up until all of the way up until the game. It’s going to be about how much better do they feel closer to the game. When we hit like Saturday, that’s really where you’ve got to have an idea.”
(Was DE Charles Harris back at practice today and how big of a step was that?) – “Yeah, he was limited today. It seems like he’s made some really big strides here the last three days. I was surprised when I saw him moving around yesterday compared to watching him last week.”
(Do you have any memorable Green Bay visits?) – “Yeah, I have a couple of them. I’ve been there a couple of times and seen some interesting plays up there. Being up in there in Detroit and seeing Brett Favre play in extremely cold weather and hearing his balls … Basically when it hit the shoulder pads of the wide receivers, it was insane – cutting through the wind. It seemed like we always played there in December. Being up there with Chicago and playing the Thursday night game and winning for the first time, I think that was the first time (Jay) Cutler had won up there. So that was a good experience.”
(As an offensive coach, when you see QB Aaron Rodgers and his ability to scramble and do things that make him so elite, when you watch film of him…) – “It’s fun to watch when you’re not playing him. He’s a hard guy to defend. He makes it look … When I watch him play, it looks like he’s playing … it’s like a 7-on-7 walkthrough. He looks relaxed. He’s just flicking the ball and putting it wherever he wants. You can tell when he gets hot. When you watch that San Francisco game, those last like three throws he makes in that game, it doesn’t even look like he’s trying. Everybody else is going full speed and he’s kind of just putting it wherever he wants. He’s always going to be tough to defend. Even the older he gets, the more ball he sees, he’s going to find different ways to move the ball.”
(What’s the toughest challenge when you are playing QB Aaron Rodgers and there are those scramble ball situations, defensively?) – “The number one thing is if he gets anybody behind the defense, he can throw it a mile and it’s going to get there in a hurry. You have to try to keep everybody in front and when he gets loose, you have to pursue and try to put pressure on him to where he has to get rid of it. Then you really have to work that thing top down. You just can’t let anybody get behind you.”
(Can you clarify on T Ja’Wuan James and T Laremy Tunsil? Do you mean that you think they’re going to play but they’re going to have to play hurt basically?) – “Well, I’ve got to see how they’re going to feel on game day. They could get light years better in the next two days and they could be like, ‘I’m great. I’m ready to go.’ But it could not feel great and (they could) say they can’t go.”
(As of today are you planning on having T Ja’Wuan James and T Laremy Tunsil?) – “I don’t know. We’ve got every scenario covered whether we’ve got one, two (of them or) neither one. We’ll figure it out.”
(How much of what happened on Sunday with the defense is stuff that you can build on?) – “I think all of it. I think they did a good job of playing as a group – all three levels. That’s really the key. You’re playing team defense and that’s where turnovers can come, sacks, negative rushes, all of those types of things. All it takes is one guy to be wrong and that’s where an explosive play can occur. I think they can build on that and hopefully we’ll just keep getting better.”
(You talked Monday about communication between Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke and the players. What needs to improve there?) – “I think they’re good. Those guys … We got everything that we need to get straightened out with all of us completely knocked out, moved on. I think sometimes you have to go through all of this kind of stuff during a season and that’s what happens. The only difference between what happens a lot of times in the league and sometimes it gets aired out publicly, that’s the hardest thing about the NFL sometimes. You have to bounce back. We’re all moving on. We got what we needed fixed and (we’re) moving on to the next game.”
(How would you describe in general the communication that you want to occur both ways – coach to player and player to coach – in general what you want to see and hear?) – “That’s been great. Over the last three years, I feel like players aren’t afraid to talk to coaches. Coaches aren’t afraid to be honest with players. I feel like that’s always been really good. We’ve never had any issues. Whatever Sunday was just … It wasn’t a fun experience to go through. It’s over and we’re moving on from it.”
(Obviously there were breakdowns in the Houston game because players were freelancing. Have you guys addressed freelancing with S Reshad Jones, who has pretty much had a license to freelance during his career here?) – “I don’t want to say it’s all freelancing. Some of it is we had some issues with tackling – our open-field tackling stuff. We were letting guys get on the safeties too fast to where now there is a lot of green grass to defend versus more athletic players. Really, that’s where our biggest concern was. How do we prevent that from happening to where we’re one on one with a whole bunch of two-way go’s for the safety. Because really, your chances of those guys getting a back or a receiver down are tough. That’s the biggest thing we wanted to address was making sure those guys aren’t getting free runs on our safeties. It’s more about gaps (and) everybody being on the same page where d-tackle, linebacker, those guys are fitting everything right so we don’t have those kind of issues down the field.”
(Maybe along those lines, a message coaches often tell players is ‘Do your job.’ And LB Jerome Baker said yesterday that’s harder than it seems because your instincts tell you to try to do more. Is that a tough message to get across to players?) – “I don’t think it’s a tough message to get across. It’s just when the game is going on and things are happening extremely fast, you can … To me, I always look at it as on defense, it’s really hard because whatever they’ve shown on tape, they’re probably not going to do exactly what they just did. So really, you’re going to see stuff that you haven’t practiced against. It’s all reaction and instincts, things like that. If you do the wrong thing and it can hurt somebody else, and sometimes you think you’re doing the right thing. It’s just there’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to defense.”
(How has RB Kenyan Drake’s playmaking ability and versatility helped you guys in the passing game, especially with WR Albert Wilson being out?) – “Well, you can move him around. He can come from the backfield, he can be out wide, he can be in one of the slot positions. I think he has variety. It’s really about getting the ball in his hands. It seems like lately, I’m getting the check made, I’m calling plays for him and then they’re running the right coverage to not allow him to get the ball. We just have to keep finding ways to just get it in his hands whether it’s running the ball, getting it quick, down the field. However we do it, we just have to find way to get him the ball.”
(Obviously the offense has been evolving a little bit with QB Brock Osweiler as the quarterback, but six points can’t be a pleasant experience. How do you address getting more points, especially weeks like this where you’re going to have to score a lot of points against Green Bay, we assume.) – “We just have to hit the plays that are there. It might be two opportunities. It might be three. It might be five. Whatever they are, when we have the right play versus the right coverage and we’ve got a guy open, we have to hit him. Or we have to be in the right spot. Last week there were minimal opportunities but there were a couple there. It’s like all it takes is one sometimes and then it changes and goes in a different direction. Then something else opens up because they start changing what they’re doing. But when a team can just keep doing the same thing because they feel like they’re having success, that’s when it gets frustrating because you know what’s coming and we’re not getting what we need. We’re not getting the production of what we need. It’s about all of those guys being on the same page, protecting, making sure we’re in the right spot, getting the ball out. All of those things, really that’s where it starts getting … to where you notice it like ‘We’re hurting here up front. Now we didn’t do this right. We didn’t do this right.’ It makes a big difference.”
(Every team will have conflicts between coaches and players. We’ve gone through the list in the last few years. Do you have a red line when it comes to players? Is it the body of work? At some point you’ve just had enough? What is it with you that some instances you seem to be okay with and some you’re not.) – “I don’t know. I never thought of it like that. I don’t know. I don’t have a good answer really for that one. Ask (Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike) Tannenbaum at the end of the year. He’ll tell you.”
(Do you have any feelings one way or the other about your next two games being moved from 1 p.m. to 4:25 p.m.?) – “No. I don’t care. Whatever. When they tell us to play, we’ll play.”
(With third downs, when you were talking about the offense, you were speaking about big plays I assume, in terms of hitting those five plays. But third downs just continue to be an issue. I know you’ve talked about staying on schedule with the offense but that doesn’t even seem to be working as well.) – “Well we had a lot of third-and-5 or less last game. I think we had three third-and-1s and we missed two of them. That just can’t happen. We’ve got to be able to … One, we don’t even have a chance to throw the ball and the other one we just get crushed trying to run the ball. We’ve got to find a way when we get into third-and-5 or less. I disagree with you. We’ve been staying on track pretty good. We’ve been third-and-5 or less pretty much. We just have to make sure that we get protected or if we’re running the ball, we get guys covered up (and) give Frank (Gore) or Kenyan (Drake) a chance to get the first. Because really, that’s all it takes. If you get a hat on a hat and Frank is back there on a third-and-1 situation, we’re probably going to get it. If we can just do a better job of making sure we give those guys a chance early in the down, we’ll get first downs.”
Xavien Howard – November 8, 2018
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Thursday, November 8, 2018
CB Xavien Howard
(How about Packers QB Aaron Rodgers’s ability to extend plays and just ad lib?) – “We just have to keep him inside the pocket and just keep covering our guy.”
(When you watch film of QB Aaron Rodgers, do you ever just shake your head?) – “Yeah. I remember not playing against him but just watching him in college and stuff like that. I was like ‘Man, that guy is great.’”
(When you know you’re facing a guy like that, is it a tense week? Are you excited about that? How do you feel about it during the week when you know that that’s what is coming on Sunday?) – “You just have to be ready for it. He can get out of the pocket. He can do a lot of great things, so you just have to be ready for it, stick on your man and just do your job (and) do the game plan that we have for him.”
(LB Jerome Baker said yesterday that doing your job is harder than it seems. The message is one thing but actually doing it is not as easy.) – “Right. It’s easier said than done. The saying ‘do your job,’ there’s a lot of stuff that comes with it. You just have to be prepared for it and just take advantage of it.”
(This is going to be another game you’re going against a big time receiver. What have you seen from Packers WR Davante Adams and what he brings to the table?) – “They have another receiver, number 83 (Marquez Valdes-Scantling). It’s a great receiver corps. The thing that I’ve seen is the guy is smooth in routes. I think he has a little speed to him. He has a little sauce to him, too. They have speed over there too. I have to do what’s best for me. My job is to try to keep the receiver in front of me, so that’s what I’m going to do this week.”
Jerome Baker – November 7, 2018
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Wednesday, November 7, 2018
LB Jerome Baker
(You’re heading over to Lambeau Field for the first time. Have you thought about that? Is it a big deal?) – “It’s a big deal, definitely. It’s one of the greatest organizations ever, so it’s definitely going to be a big deal. We’ve just got to go up there and get a win.”
(You’ve got to get over that real quick though because QB Aaron Rodgers is there too.) – “Yeah. He’s one of the best quarterbacks that’s ever played. It’s going to be a fun one, for sure.”
(What is the biggest challenge with QB Aaron Rodgers because he does so much so well?) – “That’s the big challenge. (laughter) He does pretty much everything well. There’s not a defensive coverage he hasn’t seen. There’s not pretty much anything he hasn’t seen. He’s definitely one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.”
(When you watch film on QB Aaron Rodgers, some of the things that he does are very unconventional. He’ll take off, he’ll throw off his back foot, etc.) – “Yeah, he can be on the left hash and throw an out route all the way to the right sideline like it’s nothing. It’s just Aaron Rodgers. He can do it all.”
(Is that assignment? Is that the most important thing, assignment?) – “Yeah. Even last game, it was just a testament of just do your job and everything is going to work out. That’s pretty much the main focus for pretty much the whole rest of the year is do your job and the rest will handle itself.”
(One of the messages I got from interviewing a lot of players last week is the message from the coach was ‘trust your teammates, don’t do too much.’ As you say, do your job. Was there more of that last week where no one tried to cover up for anybody else, just do what you have to do and don’t worry about other guys’ assignments?) – “That’s exactly what it was last week. Just do your job and the rest will handle itself. Luckily it came out in our favor, so it’s all good.”
(It sounds simple but is that harder than it seems?) – “It’s a lot harder than it seems.”
(Why?) – “You always want to do more, you always want to make plays; but at that moment when you want to do more, that’s when you mess up. You try to do somebody else’s job and you don’t focus on your job. It’s just a competitor thing. You want to do more but if you just do your job, it’s going to work out.”
(When did that hit you? When did you understand that? Has it?) – “It’s just a work in progress. Every week, there’s something new. There’s a new challenge. You’re playing Aaron Rodgers, I want to make a play; but you have to pretty much humble yourself of I’m going to make a play by doing my job. That’s just the approach that I take pretty much every week.”
(I know you’re 10 weeks in but is it at all still surreal when you’re watching the film and it’s Aaron Rodgers, that’s the guy you’re going against this week?) – “Yeah. It’s definitely surreal. It’s definitely a cool feeling of when I go out there Sunday and line up, it’s going to be against one of the greatest quarterbacks who ever played. It’s definitely surreal, it’s definitely a fun experience; but when the ball is snapped, that’s when it all goes away.”
(You had to make the adjustment coming down here in the heat. Now you go back up north.) – “It’s like going home. It’s nothing. I’m very excited but a little bit nervous. I haven’t been in any cold weather in a while, but it’s definitely going to be fun.”
(How many times have you seen on replay your touchdown?) – “I must’ve been tagged on Instagram and Twitter over 100 times. I kind of stopped looking at it now. It’s definitely a cool experience, definitely a cool memory.”
(Have you watched it at least a dozen times?) – “Definitely. (laughter)”
(Just because it’s fun to watch, I assume?) – “Yeah, it’s definitely cool. This is my first one. Just to see the dance, everybody else dancing, it was pretty cool. I’ve definitely watched it a few times.”
(I asked you after the game how many text messages you had. You said you hadn’t checked yet. How many did you end up getting?) – “When I got … I think it was like 357. That was right after the game. After that, I tried to answer them and more come. Between text messages and DMs, it was crazy.”
(You’ve played in this weather before. Is it easier to pick six in the warm weather or in the cold weather?) – “It’s way easier in warm weather. When it’s cold, your hands are cold, the ball seems like it’s harder; but at the end of the day, you just have to catch it.”
(Is that the signature dance move we should expect?) – “The Baker shuffle? (laughter) No. It was just a cool little thing I did. When I get another one, it’s going to be a different dance. Something special, something unique. It’s going to be all good.”
(How much pride do you take in starting as a rookie and being a contributing player who is doing good things as a rookie?) – “A lot of pride. I look to my side and I see Raekwon (McMillan) and I see Kiko (Alonso). I look in front of me, I see Cam Wake and Rob (Quinn). I look behind me and I see T.J. (McDonald) and Reshad (Jones). They expect me to go out there and do a job. When you go out there and just do your job, that’s pretty much the basic thing. You have to go out there and contribute and make plays and get excited. It’s definitely very prideful for me. I want to go out there and play for those guys. They’ve been in the league longer than me. I have the honor of being a rookie and still playing with them. It’s kind of cool so I go out there and give it all I got just for them.”
