George Godsey – August 23, 2021
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Monday, August 23, 2021
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey
(Good to see the growth of the tight ends under your old job which is still part of your new job and how effective they’ve all been. Is it possible do you think to play four tight ends in an NFL regular season game because the question is going to be with TE Hunter Long obviously, can playing time be created for him or will that be a challenge no matter where Hunter is in his progress…?) – “It’s a position where there’s got to be a lot of flexibility and so whether there are injuries, a guy gets dinged up, like to use another guy at a certain position; they’ve all got to be ready to go. And my experiences coaching that position, it’s hard to keep all of them healthy through a normal season, including preseason, which it’s been a physical preseason. We’re going to get to that point in the regular season and if we can use them as many times as we can, we will – including goal-line, short-yardage. So the more they can absorb, then the more opportunity they give themselves to get on the field.”
(It’s been reinforced less in this camp – the value of the skill of RB Salvon Ahmed and RB Myles Gaskin as receivers out of the backfield. Is that something as co-coordinator you hope to exploit this year?) – “Those guys have a good skillset receiving the football and when you throw it to them, we don’t always just want to throw a checkdown and if they can get out there and do some things that maybe a receiver can do but go against a linebacker or go against a player that we feel is a matchup advantage, then we want to utilize that. It takes a lot of time though because a lot of those routes when the plays get first put in are in the backfield so they’ve got to spend some extra time with the quarterbacks getting those routes outside – what we call extended routes – getting the chemistry with the quarterback.”
(There have been so many areas we’ve seen improvement in QB Tua Tagovailoa from last year to this. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind if I ask you where is the most improvement?) – “He’s been in communication with each of the position groups. You can’t play the position without communicating to each one of those players on how they either run a certain route or what he’s expecting them to run or where to be and that takes a lot of conversation. And we’re here a lot so he’s been able to jump out and ask those questions which are going to help his anticipation when the ball is snapped.”
(I wanted to ask you your thoughts on how the transition has gone for C/G Michael Deiter. Obviously second year at center, but the first time really playing and G/T Robert Hunt to right guard. Have those gone smooth? Seamlessly? Are you guys pleased with those two?) – “Both those guys are smart players and it’s another position where there’s only really eight of them active on game day so they’ve got to have some flexibility and it’s nice for Michael (Deiter) to have played guard for a year now knowing what it takes from a center with that communication. Same thing with Rob (Hunt) with the guard and tackle. So all of that works together. I wouldn’t say it’s an easy transition for anybody at any level or at this level for any position, but those guys have done a good job of trying to stay ahead of all the install.”
(And T Austin Jackson – how would you assess how he’s done in the two preseason games and camp?) – “That position – left tackle – at this level is one of the hardest in sports and it’s one of the hardest on the line. You’re going against a premier pass rusher on every snap and he knows it’s one play at a time. We’ve got to make sure we help both sides out with chips and tight end presence, but Austin (Jackson) has been nothing but a pleasantry out there at tackle because he knows the offense, he run blocks well, he’s aggressive. He enjoys being out here every day. He’s doing a good job, too, of communicating with the guards, who’s playing left guard and we know that there’s been some movement there so that’s part of his leadership on the line.”
(What does G Solomon Kindley give you on the line now that obviously he had the chance to start Saturday night? His presence gives you what?) – “He’s got some experience as a rookie playing there a lot of snaps and then he also is a run blocker – north, south, downhill, inside run blocker. He can pull, he can double-team a zone block and he’s got, like I said, familiarity with going against some pretty top-level players last year. So again, all experience helps at that position.”
(Two last things for me. With T Liam Eichenberg, when you and Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre and Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville and Head Coach Brian Flores are in a room – I know obviously you think Liam can play guard and tackle – do you have a sense of where he might be better as an NFL player?) – “It’s the same thing with the amount of guys on a roster on game day. He’s going to have to play multiple and learn multiple spots and based on the dynamics in that room, whoever is active come the first week of the season, which we’ve got some time, there needs to be some flexibility to be able to play inside and outside. We know that that’s a hard role and as each week goes on – going against another opponent this past week playing another spot – it’s going to help him grow and we want that to be fast as possible.”
(All of your NFL experience coaching in Houston and Detroit and here – can you remember being around a position group that’s going to require tougher decisions than receiver with this team?) – “It’s a good group. The thing that jumped out to my mind right away is just how many guys have caught an NFL touchdown or caught an NFL pass. A lot of times there are guys who have never played an NFL game that are battling for a spot and how there’s a lot of experience at that position. We’ve had some guys that have missed some practices, but we’ve also had some guys that we know can contribute at that spot. It’s going to be hard and those guys have done a good job making it hard. That’s what their job is, but they’ve all created value for themselves and it’s going to be a tough decision.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa – the progress he’s made – obviously he had a great game this past Saturday. So just the progress you’ve seen from him from the start of camp through these two preseason games.) – “I’d say the biggest thing that we’ve noticed is the communication from quarterback to each position group. We think that there’s got to be very fluid conversations within our unit, offensive line, quarterback, quarterback-tight end, quarterback-receiver and backs. We utilize the backs a bunch of different ways along with the tight ends. He’s made strides from that perspective and it’s not easy to do all the time and point out when you’re right or when you’re wrong and that’s what we asked him to do at the start of camp and he’s done a good job at it and that’s what has enhanced his play-to-play efficiency.”
(With the tight ends we saw TE Mike Gesicki do Gesicki things that big catch over the middle. Are you also seeing progress in his blocking for example? I know that’s always kind of what people say about him – he needs to improve in that area?) – “There’s a lot of things that Mike (Gesicki) does well and there’s some things that he knows he can improve on and just like every other tight end in the league, too. So we’re working on that day-to-day, but when he’s in there on third down and we need a catch, he needs to get open and catch the ball. He knows that’s our standard in that room and he’s working his tail off. He missed some days with the COVID situation, which to his credit he came back, worked hard to get back in shape and we’re seeing things back where we know them as.”
(What do you think of just the overall depth of that group – the tight ends?) – “We have depth at that position just because through the course of a normal regular season, it’s hard to get through multiple games back-to-back with all the contact, the reps that those guys play, without injuries taking place and so the more we can have at that position that really can be flexible, play run and pass, then we feel comfortable going into each game. Hunter (Long) is catching up as far as his learning. Obviously it’s his first camp and had a little bit of setback there, but he’s back out there playing. We saw some good reps from him in the game, so the more he can do, the more we keep challenging each player in that room to improve their skillset.”
(What do you think about the structure of the offense and how – you talked tight end depth – but as far as the whole offense goes, how do you think you guys are equipped to be able to make that week-to-week adjustment to gameplan for instance like opponent as opposed to “this is what we do so we’re going to do and nothing else is going to change that?”) – “We don’t really think the latter. We don’t really think that way. We do have some core plays that we believe in, but we want to utilize all of our talent that we have on offense. So running backs, there’s a different type of skillset with inside, outside, versatile, being able to do both, protection. Then from the tight end perspective, there’s a bunch of different players there and then in the receiver room, there are some guys who have got to get healthy that we’ve got to catch up from a chemistry standpoint, but that’s what the NFL is. Played a lot of games where maybe the best receiver didn’t practice all week because he was nursing an injury and then goes out there and performs. That’s kind of what we expect from those guys. They’re professionals. And then we expect to put those guys in the best position from a coaching standpoint to succeed on game day.”
(How do you think QB Tua Tagovailoa’s skillset really accentuates that approach?) – “It’s got to be versatile from being able to check the ball down when it’s not there and get the ball in the hands of the backs or notice a matchup in a man-to-man coverage, whether it’s a tight end or a running back, and being able to know the skillset of each receiver. They’re all different. Some are tall, some are short, some are pretty fast and quick and others are good contested ball receivers. We’ve got to know when to put the ball up in the air for the contested ball receiver and we’ve got to know when the receiver’s going to separate from a route runner if you will.”
(We saw the other night QB Tua Tagovailoa had RB Salvon Ahmed motion out and the linebacker takes a shot at him. It didn’t go complete but it was a good throw. How much does he have kind of autonomy at the line to make that throw, make that check to say “I’m going to go to that guy” or just make changes at the line?) – “The quarterback’s got the ball in his hands every play so we give him the ability to make the best decision for us and for the team on that situation so if he felt that matchup was what he wanted, which we were able to hit that practice – we don’t fault him for making that decision. We’d like to see it caught, but we’re going to keep working at that to make sure that the next opportunity we get at that we hit it home.”
(TE Mike Gesicki and the rest of those of the guys in the room try to fleece you for more targets yet?) – “I think there’s a lot of guys that are trying to get as many targets as possible. We’ve got one ball so unfortunately it’s only one at a time there.”
(I’m curious the last – I guess the last couple months of last year, you did a little bit more with QB Tua Tagovailoa after Robby Brown went down. What did those maybe two months do for you and Tua’s relationship I guess building until now?) – “It was just more communication, figuring out maybe how he was seeing things and what his key was before the snap and what it was post-snap and what he’s looking at during the play. Sometimes the more you can get on the same page of what he’s seeing – he can correct it or work off of it. So that was big. Then the situational work just for a rookie, that’s hard. We’re trying to get that early as far as making sure that the situation that he’s watching – maybe he’s not playing them, but he’s learning from the other quarterbacks, especially the veterans.”
(You mentioned situations. I think if I remember at this last game, there was a two-minute drive and at the end of a series that was something that I felt like last year maybe he might not have been as advanced on that. But this year, at least on that drive, QB Tua Tagovailoa had the comfort to lead the team and know what he’s doing.) – “It was well-executed. We were able to get a chunk to get us close to field-goal range and then get a ball out of bounds and then get potential points before the half; but you’re right, that’s not easy to do. There’s some things defensively that they know what’s about to happen so it makes it that much harder. But we thought it was well-executed from an offensive standpoint putting us in a position to get points before half.”
(I guess looking on the outside, we only see what we see; but where have you maybe seen QB Tua Tagovailoa’ biggest jump? Is it situational stuff? Is it something else that you’ve seen?) – “We were talking earlier about just the communication from room to room. You have to drop the shield as a quarterback and you have to admit to when you’re wrong and basically you’ll get the praise when you’re right; but the players respect that. The other thing is that those players need to understand what he’s looking at, too. So whether it’s tight ends or receivers, if he expects those players to run a route at a certain depth and be in a certain spot versus a certain coverage, then the tight ends, receivers, the backs – they all need to hear that. So he’s been able to do that, go into each room, have a lot more of a face-to-face communication, not necessarily a coach coming in there and saying, ‘Hey, this is what the quarterback wants.’ So that part of his game has taken a huge step.”
(Sounds like QB Tua Tagovailoa is taking ownership of the team and the offense.) – “It is. You’re judged on how you perform and in order to perform at your highest level, everybody’s got to be on the same page. He understands that and I think he expects the players that are executing that play to see it through his eyes.”
(I know that the team got some wide receivers back and also added some in free agency and the draft, but as a person who’s still a tight ends coach and along with co-offensive coordinator, what can you say about the value of having multiple tight ends and being able to put multiple tight ends on the field to kind of keep a defense honest in terms of where they have to defend the run?) – “Usually a receiver is in the game to catch a ball and run a route and the running backs are usually in there to run the ball; so when you’re talking about the skill makeup of the five skill guys, those guys pretty much define what they’re doing. The tight end has a role that’s both run blocking and receiving that can merge both of those aspects of run and pass, play-action and create a lot of more difficulty for a defense to prepare for that. You don’t want to have all tight ends out there. You don’t want to have none out there from our perspective and having a good depth in that room provides us the ability to stay fresh, be healthy – if one guy is down, another guy can take that role. But also give a lot of run-pass conflict to the defense so that it’s not just all their run defense players in the game or it’s all their pass defense players in the game. We want to make them play that game a little bit.”
Brian Flores – August 22, 2021
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Sunday, August 22, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(QB Tua Tagovailoa and RB Myles Gaskin both said after the game how it was a point of emphasis this week for the offense to push the pace, get set up quickly. Want to know what makes that so important for the offense and what that does.) – “I just think it’s always good to get in and out of the huddle, know your alignment, know your assignment so you can handle your responsibility. That’s just a point of emphasis really every week. I think offensively and defensively and in the kicking game we talked about that. We talked about that being the first part of having good execution of the play, so I think players took to that and tried to execute that. I thought we did a solid job of that last night.”
(This preseason you guys have been able to get a lot of work for some guys who I think will play a lot of ball this season. I was just curious how you balance getting enough tape for you and your staff to evaluate versus putting too much out there for regular season opponents?) – “I think we try to practice the things that we think that we’ll end up using and working throughout the season. That’s a variety of things, but they’re mostly based on those fundamentals and techniques at guys’ different positions – schemes and core concepts that we’ll run offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. And then I think throughout the season, what you end up doing is running those core concepts and they just look a little different. You just dress them up a little differently so that’s what you’re going to see in the preseason – core concepts, really from every team. We’re no different and I think how you dress those things up throughout the season, I think every team does that in some way whether it’s with shifts or motions or whatever they feel is best for them and we’ll do the same.”
(So much was going right last night for the team. I wonder if the game in Cincinnati might be more of an opportunity to look at guys who might be on the bubble before final roster cuts. What are your thoughts on that?) – “I think we’re still kind of going through last night’s film. Haven’t really thought about what we’re going to do next week, who’s going to play, how much. We’ll meet about that a little bit tonight. Probably formulate a plan on that throughout the week. But playing in those games is important and the guys who are on the bubble or close – those guys will play. How much is just – we haven’t gotten to that yet.”
(I have a two-part question for you. Obviously G Durval Queiroz Neto got his opportunity last night and I want to know your thoughts on his performance late in the game. Also, I wanted to ask you as a coach, how satisfying is it to see a player that has been working for four years finally being able to compete at this level after everything that he went through?) – “Durval, he’s worked extremely hard for his opportunity – the opportunity to play last night. I thought he played well. I thought he went in, knew what he had to do, knew who he had to block, blocked them, played with great energy. He always plays with passion and energy. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of all the work he’s put in. I remember when he first got here and football was new to him and he’s really grown and done a nice job of learning the system, of learning a new position. He’s a great teammate, practices hard and he’s a tough kid. I was happy to see him get in there and expect to see him get in there a little bit more next week.”
(I want to help you sell some tickets. Based on what you’ve seen in camp including two preseason games now, how optimistic are you that this team can take a step forward this year?) – “I never step too far away from my one-day-at-a-time approach. I’m not going to change that now. It’s kind of been my way of kind of going about things my entire life, so I think I’m focused on today – trying to get better today, trying to improve today. That’s my message to the team and I think as long as we take that approach, we give ourselves an opportunity to improve, get better and we’ll let the results take care of themselves.”
(While you may be undecided on who you’ll play and how much they’ll play, even if you end up resting guys if WR DeVante Parker, WR Will Fuller, WR Albert Wilson, maybe WR Preston Williams can go – how much would you value them getting their first preseason reps versus just assuring you don’t put them at risk before Week 1?) – “It’s always good to get reps. It’s always good to get some game action and those guys are working to get back as soon as they can. We’ll see what practice looks like this week. If they can string together a couple good days of practice, then we’ll talk about them playing in the game, but as of right now those guys are just working to get back quickly as they can.”
(T Liam Eichenberg got a lot of playing time last night. After reviewing the film, what are some of the things you’ve noticed?) – “He did some good things. There are some things he can improve on. He’s moved around, he played a few positions – last night he was at tackle. I thought he did well, but there are definitely a lot of scenarios where he can get better. They are watching the film right now. I know ‘Lem’ (Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre) is making the corrections with him. He’s a hard-working kid, so he’ll work hard to make the corrections and hopefully get another opportunity to improve this week during practice and we’ll see what next week looks like.”
(It seemed QB Tua Tagovailoa’s decision-making yesterday seemed much faster than it was last year. The reads were quicker. Is that something that comes with more game reps? How do you continue to grow a guy in year two to make good fast decisions?) – “I think reps is a part of it. I think studying the game film is a part of it. I think practice reps is a part of that. I think Tua has put a lot of time and energy into his craft. I think that making good decisions and quick decisions is something that he’s worked on and wants to do that for this team. It’s good to see him go out there and do that last night. Now it’s about doing that on a consistent basis.”
(Just two penalties in the game last night. I was curious to see how much pride you and your staff take in the fact that you can play so many guys in different line-up changes and only commit two penalties the entire night?) – “I hope you’re not jinxing us there. (laughter) We talk about trying to play penalty free. We spend a lot of time on it. We don’t want to go backwards. We want to go forward with the ball. We don’t want to give up yardage with penalties defensively or in the kicking game. We try to play within the rules, play aggressive and physical and with poise. Hopefully we can continue to do that. Penalties happen, but we try to eliminate them as much as we can.”
(I know you did a lot in the scouting realm, I’m curious how much you can look into the other teams – whether it’s the Falcons or other teams – for roster cuts at this point in the offseason?) – “I really let (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and his staff handle that. My focus is on this team and coaching the players on this team. I think when you have joint practices like we had last week, and you get to watch all of the practice film, a couple of guys catch your eye; but for the most part I let Chris and his staff handle that. They handle that.”
Eric Rowe – August 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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(When you see the defense playing at this level this early, I know it’s preseason – does it make you optimistic that you guys seem to be picking up where you left off?) – “Not in that sense. I see it more as we’re coming together, we’re communicating well. We’re playing as a team. When you get those early signs, that’s a good sign. Not — the past is the past. Everybody has got new people on the team. You’ve got to bring everybody up to speed. If we weren’t coming together by now, it would be a little shaky.”
(Although it’s preseason, to have that pass breakup on the 4th down on the goal line, how did that feel?) – “Yeah, it felt good. I was out there working my technique. Not much I can say about that. It was just a good play, and I was happy to get off the field and they didn’t score.”
(How has your week been going up against TE Kyle Pitts and TE Hayden Hurst, two really good tight ends in the league? How has that been for you personally?) – “Oh, yeah, it was a great week. You know, Kyle Pitts, he’s basically like a receiver. He’s a guy I’ll see in the future, and Hayden Hurst, he’s a great tight end, great receiving tight end, so I was glad whenever we got the news we got joint practices, and I saw them on the roster. It’s going to be a great opportunity for work because it’s always good to go against our guys, but you get a little tired of it. You want to go against someone else and kind of like where do I stand kind of competition-wise. So going against them, it was a great thing.”
(LB Sam Eguavoen is a guy who they told him once he was going to have to pay $100 to try out for the CFL. Do you think that his – how hard his road was, can you sense that when you’re around him?) – “Yeah. You know, when I talked to him in the locker room, cafeteria, just hang around him, he doesn’t intentionally put it out there like ‘oh, I’ve been through X, Y, Z and this.’ You can just sense it, body language wise, the way he works, kind of the way he talks. I remember when I first met him in 2019, he was like – it just be things like, man, I’ve got to get my chance, I’ve got to get my shot, all that stuff. And he’s in year three, and he’s the same way, same grind. That’s great for him. You’ve got to keep that chip on your shoulder.”
(Do you guys feel at this point in the preseason where you guys are as a team, what your identity is?) – “It’s tough. It’s tough to say that because I know preseason and the regular season, it’s two different speeds. But from practice, I can get a feel of what we can become. We’re all — at least in the defensive backfield, we’re all really good man-to-man coverage guys, and D-line, they eat up the run. I can see that in practice, but you can’t really tell until week one.”
(Offensively you guys have a couple receivers that are out. Defensively do you guys feel even more of a need to turn it on defensively, you guys have so many guys returning, you know the scheme so well, to keep points off the board? Is that something you need to do even more because of the offensive injuries so far?) – “We haven’t really thought about that. I know camp, injuries occur. Us as a defense, our number one goal is obviously everyone wants to shut everybody out, but it’s the NFL, so our goal is to turnover, get the ball back to our offense. Whoever is out there on offense is out there. Our job, our main focus is attacking the ball, get the ball back, give it to the offense.”
(Offensively you guys have a couple receivers that are out. Defensively do you guys feel even more of a need to turn it on defensively, you guys have so many guys returning, you know the scheme so well, to keep points off the board? Is that something you need to do even more because of the offensive injuries so far?) – “We haven’t really thought about that. I know camp, injuries occur. Us as a defense, our number one goal is obviously everyone wants to shut everybody out, but it’s the NFL, so our goal is to turnover, get the ball back to our offense. Whoever is out there on offense is out there. Our job, our main focus is attacking the ball, get the ball back, give it to the offense.”
Myles Gaskin – August 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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(How did you feel about your performance today?) – “I feel good about it. Just thank God first and foremost. The o-line did a great job, Tua (Tagovailoa) did a great job. I think we just prepared really well, so that’s what happens when you prepare.”
(What was your first reaction when you saw WR Jaylen Waddle go down with that injury?) – “I didn’t really see it. I saw him kind of running off to the sidelines, and then when he came back, everybody told me what happened. He seemed like he was straight, so he came back.”
(What sort of positive impact do you feel like the success moving the football tonight can have for the offense’s confidence overall?) – “Just the preparation we had going into this week, I think we just really prepared really well. Obviously, practicing with the guys giving us good looks, stuff like that. But I think that was just our next step from Chicago, just to work on like good film study, stuff like that, communicating, seeing what everybody else sees, like Tua (Tagovailoa) communicating to running backs, (Michael) Deiter communicating to the running backs, stuff like that. I think that’s just kind of our next step and we took that, so it feels good, and we’ve just got to keep growing on that.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa said like he felt part of the reason why the offense was doing well was it was operating quickly, the operation was moving quickly. What are your thoughts on that?) – “Yeah, that was a point of emphasis this week. I think Tua (Tagovailoa) kind of drove it home for the rest of the offense. It’s one thing to hear it from (Head Coach Brian Flores) Flo. Obviously, you want to do what the coach says, but when the head guy, the quarterback in the huddle, is kind of leading the way, everybody wants to listen to him a lot. I think it kind of looked good for us just to get on the ball fast, make sure to keep them on their toes, stuff like that, but I think we did a good job.”
(How does QB Tua Tagovailoa do that with you guys?) – “Lead? I think he’s just a very good dude like off the field. I feel like you can talk to him about football, talk to him about life, whatever it may be. When you have a guy like that you want to compete with him, you want to make him proud of you. He always makes you proud of him, so things like that, just kind of that brotherhood that people always talk about with football, when you’re next to a guy and you want to compete for him. He’s one of those guys that you want to compete for.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was a guy who took you kind of under his wing last season. You’ve seen his leadership skills. What are Tua’s leadership skills like?) – “Different. Different, just because he’s younger I feel like. Obviously Fitzy (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has been around for a long time and he’s grown a lot; like everybody else, when you’ve been a professional for such a long time, you’ve grown. But I think Tua (Tagovailoa) learned a lot from Fitz (Ryan Fitzpatrick) in the sense of just kind of being a very personal person, in the sense of being able to talk about everything else except football at times, so like I was just explaining, when it is on the field, you want to compete for him because you have that bond. I think he’s taken that step. I don’t think Fitz (Ryan Fitzpatrick) gave him that. I’m sure he had that at Alabama and in high school, too. I think he was able to see that with Fitz and how like it works for a lot of people, and I think he’s been doing a great job.”
(Some of the receivers out in training camp. The running backs, did you guys feel a little pressure to maybe do a little extra to compensate?) – “I think we always feel that pressure, whether we’ve got all of our receivers in there or not. Just being on the field, you’re trying to make plays. Obviously, it’s not about you, but when you’re out there with those 11 other guys, you want to make them proud. Like I’ve just been saying, you want to compete with the guys that’s next to you, and I know with the receivers being down, but no more than usual.
(Running the ball, catching the ball in the backfield, having those kind of options as a player, as a playmaker, how does that make you feel?) – “It makes me feel good. Just ready to get back to work. It’s a preseason game. I’m excited to get back playing on Sundays and stuff like that. I’m just taking it one day at a time. But just ready to grow and just keep working.”
(Where are you guys as far as comfort as far as comfort within this scheme?) – “I think we’re very comfortable with what our coaches want out of us and stuff like that. I think we’re still striving for more, if that makes sense. Just trying to grow each and every day communication-wise, show each other what we can do and just kind of just keep growing. I don’t think we’re comfortable in the sense of, oh, ‘this is what we want.’ I think we’re just ready to keep growing and kind of compete with each other, and just keep growing.”
Sam Eguavoen August 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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(When was the last time you had four sacks?) – “Last time I had four sacks? My dream last night. (laughter)”
(What was this week like for you, going from COVID to four sacks in an important preseason game?) – “It’s always stressful when you can’t practice with your team, especially in training camp and things like that. You know, everybody is trying to make a team. Two days in the football world feels like a month. When I came back, everybody was like, man, where you been, you lost weight, things like that. It’s just tough not being able to practice, especially when we had joint practice with Atlanta. But just being able to come back and still understand the plays and everything, I was just happy about that.”
(Did you feel fresh?) – “Yeah, I felt fresh at the beginning of the game, but then as the game goes on, you’re hitting offensive linemen and things like that, your body is going to get sore eventually.”
(If you had to put your journey in the NFL into words to somebody who didn’t know what your career has been like, what would you say it was?) – “Just have a strong faith. Just always believing in yourself. Even if you don’t make it, at least your faith got stronger, you know, like just always believe. It’s never good to doubt yourself or bet against yourself, but that’s just my main thing. I just kept faith, kept hope alive, and now I’m here and still got that same mindset going through camp, going through preseason and for my career.”
(You’ve sort of carved out a niche for yourself as an inside pass rusher. What was that journey like? I remember last year you were working as a pass rusher and now you’re back as the inside linebacker, I think. What’s that like?) – “It’s really just learning, taking coaching points from the d-line coach, outside linebacker coach, pass rush coach, things like that. I’m never sitting in meetings and just locked in on inside linebacker. When my coach is talking, that’s all I hear. I’m still hearing what the d-line coach is saying, and that’s what a lot of great players do. They know what everybody is doing. You’re taking coaching points from each position so if you ever end up in that situation, you know at least a little bit. Especially Coach (Flores) always talks about you want to be a doctorate in your position but have your master’s in here, have your GED here. You don’t ever want to just be dumb at any position on the football field.”
(How many text messages did you have?) – “I haven’t even opened it yet, honestly. It was crazy. (laughter)”
(Does it get any better than a sack for a safety?) – “Probably if you get a strip sack, touchdown. Probably, yeah. (laughter)”
(You were dancing, you were really engaged after your sack. Just each one. How did that feel just having outplayed yourself?) – “Just being out there with your team, man, it’s just crazy knowing you made a play and everybody – all 11 on the field, even the sideline, everybody is excited for you. That’s great. Even when Munson caught his pick, the whole sideline erupted. Heck, I forget that I made the play because people are punching me and things like that. I’m like, ‘Dang, I don’t want to make no more plays because this kind of hurts. (laughter).’ But it’s a team game, man. It’s 11; it’s a tough sport. Anytime you can make a play, man, just celebrate, rejoice, but then get right back to the next play.”
(I saw after you came off the field for the sack safety, it was LB Jerome Baker, it was DT Christian Wilkins, it was DT Raekwon Davis, it was CB Nik Needham, CB Xavien Howard came over congratulated you, I’m sure plenty more after that. Three years here mostly with those guys, what did that moment mean to you?) – “It meant everything. You just seen the look in their eyes and they’re just so excited for you. You’re like, ‘Man, I love this, like let’s keep going, let’s keep doing it. Man, you make a play – everybody just believes, and you never know, every snap it could be one of us. You never know. When it’s your time, just execute, and we’re all going to ball out in the end zone.”
(You mentioned it a little earlier, but everybody’s fighting – a lot of people are fighting for a roster spot at this point. I’m sure you feel like one of those guys. What does this mean for you I guess in that fight?) – “It’s still a fight. It don’t matter what you do today. It’s always – the rent is due every day. It’s never just – you can’t get lackadaisical because, oh, I got four sacks this week or I got a pick that week. There’s always somebody ready to take your spot just like when I was in Canada; I’m waiting for somebody to slip up in the NFL. I’m going to rejoice tonight, but tomorrow I know I’m still going to get chewed out in film for plays that I messed up on, and you just go back into practice the next weekend and you’ve got to do it all over again. I never get complacent with anything I do.”
(Was there something as the game went on you caught onto that you realized that they can’t stop – they can’t block…) – “I mean, we talk on the sideline. Adam Butler, he’s a veteran defensive lineman. He’s really smart when it comes to pass rush and things like that, and he’s taught me a lot this summer, training camp. We just talk about it, and we go to the sideline, make adjustments, go back out there, and if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, we go back to the drawing board. I mean, it wasn’t nothing magical that we were doing. It was just hard work and executing.”
(Excluding dreams, when was the last time you had four sacks in a game?) – “Are you still on that question? (laughter) I’ve never had four sacks in a game.”
(Sam, in addition to wanting to be a professional athlete, making enough money for yourself, what else is a part – what else or who else is a part of your drive?) – “I’d say my little brother, really. You know, he has epilepsy. I don’t know if you all know that, but he has epilepsy so he has random seizures all the time and little things that we take for granted in life like driving to the grocery store or going out to eat with your friends and things like that, he doesn’t have that lifestyle. He’s always in the house until somebody takes him somewhere. So it’s just like, when I’m here, I’m so locked in on football, sometimes I end up forgetting about him, but I know who I’m doing it for, and then once I get back home in the offseason, I’m just like, man, he’s been doing the same thing every single day, so I try to do the most I can with him in the offseason and hopefully I make enough money, have a long enough career where I can take care of him and stuff for as long as I can.”
(What’s his name?) – “Owen.”
(How about in Madden? Have you ever had four sacks in a Madden game?) – “I have. (laughter) Hopefully my stats increase on Madden.”
