Jaelan Phillips – September 20, 2023
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Wednesday, September 20, 2023
LB Jaelan Phillips
(Was it a freak thing? What do you think happened and how are you feeling now?) – “First of all, I feel great. Stuff happens. I just moved weird and my back kind of spasmed on me, so I spent the 48 hours after it happened doing everything I could to get right for the game. Frankly, I felt pretty good to go but obviously it’s a long season. Got to play everything smart. So I think ultimately it gave my back some rest and now I’m feeling great, feeling healthy, ready to go.”
(What did you think of LB Andrew Van Ginkel’s game sort of in your place?) – “That boy snapped. I’ve known ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) is a playmaker. He’s one of the sneakiest, most sneaky athletic people I’ve ever met. He’s very unassuming, but he’s really a playmaker all around the ball, flying around, making plays, rushing his ass of. He did a great job. A really good job.”
(You share a locker obviously with LB Bradley Chubb. It’s an important week for him, I’d imagine. Have you talked to him at all about seeing the Broncos again?) – “Yeah, I think he’s definitely excited, but we really try to keep a level head with all this. Like no matter what the game is, we try to prepare for it the same. It’s not even so much just being emotionally invested in it and letting that get you out of your preparation and your game. Like I said, just handling this like it’s any other weekend. We’re going to go out there and play our asses off.”
Mike McDaniel – September 20, 2023
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Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Is WR Jaylen Waddle still in concussion protocol? Will LB Jaelan Phillips be able to practice today?) – “(Jaelan) Phillips is progressing, (Jaylen) Waddle is still in concussion protocol.”
(I know there’s a point in concussion protocol where they practice. Is WR Jaylen Waddle at that point, or is he still sidelined?) – “Yes, he’s not practicing today. I’m not really worried about the timeline. I’m more worried about him getting right. I’m not really sure when that is nor have I tried to dig that up.”
(What about T Terron Armstead?) – “Terron (Armstead) will be in practice today. He’ll have an uptick tomorrow when the pads are on, so we’re full steam ahead. We’ll take it day by day.”
(With T Terron Armstead, I know sometimes the day after a workout is important. How did he do last week on day after workouts?) – “That’s where we saw the progression. That’s why we felt pretty good about moving forward and upping the ante, so to speak, this week. Then we’ll be really just taking a close look tomorrow and see how he responds and same thing the next day.”
(Where does RB Salvon Ahmed stand?) – “He won’t be practicing today. Until otherwise noted, I wasn’t planning for today or tomorrow. So we’ll see how it shakes out, but I always leave room for people to have an unexpected fast expeditious recovery. But as far as today, I’m not planning on seeing him.”
(How did RB De’Von Achane do in his debut and where do you feel he’s at?) – “I thought he did well with his opportunities. You can tell that the game is not too big for him. The biggest challenge is absorbing the entirety of the gameplan, which I think he’s made vast improvements upon really since the spring and through training camp. I think fortunately for the team, he’s prepared for the further opportunities that he’ll be given moving forward.”
(Your first NFL game as an intern was a Broncos at Dolphins matchup, right?) – “It was.”
(What did that show you about the early season September home field advantage that exists here?) – “Well, that was pre-global warming. It was hot. (laughter) I think it’s all in each individual team and how they’re prepared. I think there’s a challenge to adapt to every place you play in terms of it’s outside of normal to a degree, but the good news is it’s the same atmosphere for both teams. I think they’re very used to it when people travel to Mile High, and I’m sure they’re going to be prepared for the humidity.”
(Along those lines, it’s your first regular season game against your hometown team. When you think of the Denver Broncos as it relates to your journey, what comes to mind?) – “I mean it’s a big part of it. It was the team that I found my love for football with. Their jerseys were orange at the time for the most part. Also a couple of the biggest influences that I’ve had from the game of football in terms of Mike Shanahan and by extension Kyle Shanahan and Gary Kubiak. It’s a great franchise. I have played them before, but not as a head coach. What’s weird in the journey is once you get in the business, the teams don’t feel the same. So I guess it’s like how you don’t treat bosses the same. Technically, the organization is my boss, so it’s just like, ‘Aright.’ It kind of loses its fandom so to speak. But a tremendous organization and I wouldn’t be here without it.”
(Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II has not allowed a whole lot of completions or yards this year. What’s the challenge of game planning for a defense that has someone that can lock down a full side of the field?) – “If you want to talk about a tough position, that’s why you kind of know by name the guys that are the best in the business, and I think he’s in that category for sure, because put it this way, your job is to cover someone with your back to the thing your defending, which is the goal line, and you have no idea what they’re going to do. You talk about you have to have certain traits to be able to execute that, as well as you have to be deliberate in your approach, you have to have technique and fundamentals. You have to be patient when you need to be and aggressive when you need to be, so I think he deserves all the praise he gets. He’s a heck of a player.”
(You have a relationship with many players. What’s different about the head coach/quarterback relationship and how essential is it to success?) – “I think every relationship is unique to itself, I think especially when you enter into the journey with each individual player like I try to do. However, there are certain things that, as a play-caller more than anything, you’re hypersensitive to the extra things that someone has on their plate that maybe people don’t pay mind to. The stability and the grounded nature that the quarterback position necessitates – listen you have the ball in your hands and if you’re throwing a temper-tantrum, there are residual results to everyone on the field and the organization. For guys to be able to make plays, you have to either hand or throw the ball to them. I think I keep that in mind and bear witness to that. It’s hard to ignore all the different things that you’re instructing him to do. I think it gives you a true appreciation for all the things that need to take place from that particular individual as well as his immediate surroundings and all the people that are in his corner, with position coach and family. It is all encompassing. You are judged retroactively and no one cares how much you’ve invested and you have to be ok with that. You have to just guiltlessly approach your job and not feel entitled to anything. You have to be hungry consistently and you have to be ready for the unforeseen. You have to continue to get better. It’s very humbling. I have a more direct scope. I wouldn’t call the relationship necessarily different. I would say that I have as true of an appreciation as you can have for all the success and things that he earns.”
(This will probably be a unique week for LB Bradley Chubb as well. What he showed last week, how encouraging was that? And how confident are you that’s what we’re going to see the rest of the season?) – “I think there hasn’t been a day that has gone by since we were able to acquire him that I haven’t been thankful. It’s been production is more of a when, not if. I think it’s awesome to see earned production. I think what’s unique about Bradley and one of the reasons why we chose to acquire him, and we chose to pay him, is because he is a difference maker that is also selfless. I think a lot of times, particularly at the edge position in the National Football League, it’s almost like a receiver blocking. You have to, as an edge player, defend the run if you want your team to be good, but you don’t necessarily get direct compensation all the time for it. Guys get paid for sacks. So when you’re fortunate enough to have a guy that can get sacks, but also takes extreme pride in the overall complexion of the defense and his part in it, you feel very, very fortunate to have that. I think there are some people with ties to the Broncos organization for sure, but one of the great things about this team and the people in that locker room is they would feel enormously guilty if they approached it with anything other than the team’s best interest. Thinking about last year, or where you’re drafted – I’m sure there are memories and stuff and I will never speak for them – but the one thing that I can tell by actions is that their primary focus is the Miami Dolphins and not their score to settle or whatever maybe created in the media. That’s not really going on in-house. They are focused on this team getting better from the last (game).”
(How have you seen Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry’s approach and mindset translate to the field over the first few weeks?) – “Directly. I was fortunate enough to work directly with Butch in San Francisco for my last season there. The in’s and out’s of a season, especially the one we had there where people were speaking on next year in the middle of the season, then we went on a run and found a way to galvanize and got to the NFC Championship Game. That relationship, there’s no hiding. You kind of know what you’re going to get. And after really digesting the whole 2022 season, I thought he was just what the doctor ordered. I think if you ask the players, they would say the same thing. And it’s not because of anything but his commitment to the task at hand, his commitment to the players, and his integrity of his position. He’s relentless. I mean, he’s sweating in a sun hat every day. He brings the juice and takes it very, very serious. So I think the residuals are in the players and I commend the whole group for understanding their various roles, and using each other to maximize all their potential, which if this is letter C in the alphabet, we have a long way to go. But it’s been very encouraging thus far.”
(We saw the Patriots use a common unique defensive plan to maybe try to stop some of your tendencies and you guys adjusted well. Can you maybe take me through that adjustment process in year two with you and QB Tua Tagovailoa of trying to stay ahead of the defense as they scheme for your tendencies?) – “I’m very hesitant to have a crystal ball. I think my job is to have things, I think I said it the other day, I kind of view it as equity in the plan, so that you can allow the players to dictate the terms, regardless of situation. We have plenty of pass plays we didn’t call and some run plays we didn’t call, but you’re trying to disperse it around ‘okay, well, they could do this, this or this.’ You don’t quite know what it’s going to be, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to kind of come to the conclusion they might try to stop a pass or two. So you’re thinking along those lines. But then the biggest thing is about where the players are with regard to the coaching staff. Because what happens in those situations is you’re having a puzzle that doesn’t replicate any puzzle that you’ve really seen up until that point. There wasn’t playbook drawings of the defense. But for everyone to be accounted for in a pass play or a run play, you kind of have to be able to sort it all out collectively with a collective vision. So to me, it’s those types of games, which will come if you are fortunate enough to have success. Those type of problem-solving abilities are absolutely fundamentally (something that) the team depends on for you to have success in big moments and big games. That is something that I hope for the team that we’ll continue to get work at as we progress through the season because I know those are problems that you have to solve live speed in games that you remember for the rest of your life. So, it’s good to get those reps early.”
Mike McDaniel – September 18, 2023
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Monday, September 18, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Is WR Jaylen Waddle is in concussion protocol? And with RB Salvon Ahmed, did he strain his groin? I hope it’s not torn. Do you know on his situation as well?) – “I don’t have a timetable with ‘SA’ (Salvon Ahmed). It’s not torn. It’s not an overly long situation but those are tricky. We’ll know more as the week progresses with that. Jaylen is in the protocol. We’ll move forward. He already started progressing in that process today.”
(How about LB Jaelan Phillips? Is there any update on him?) – “He was pretty frustrated that he wasn’t allowed to play. From a medical perspective, we thought it wasn’t worth the risk. But in his mind, he was ready to contribute, so he was disappointed but understanding. It was just the long-term vision, we felt like he may be at risk for a bigger issue if he would’ve played. Sometimes we have to be the adults. He was ready if asked, but we felt it was better for the team to make sure he’s fully prepared for the future and not risk that with short-sided-ness.”
(Same thing with T Terron Armstead?) – “Yeah, Terron and Jaelan Phillips were very similar in that way, where they both felt they had played games under the circumstances, however we just really want to do everything possible to avoid anything we can as far as setbacks go with those players. They’re a big part of our team. So fortunately, like I’ve been saying, we have depth and people that train in a multitude of ways so that you cannot risk the long vision of the team for a short-sighted decision. So they’re both very similar.”
(How confident are you that both T Terron Armstead and LB Jaelan Phillips will be available for this week potentially?) – “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but that’s trending in the right direction, the fact that they both felt capable. So we’ll see how it progresses throughout the week, because we also just don’t want to – you’re careful not to put in the head of the player that ‘Hey, this is when you’re going to play.’ It’s more of let’s continue to detail and pay full mind and attention to the injury. Then we’ll let the body tell us when we’re going to play. So we feel good about where they’re at and I’m optimistic but we’ll see how the week progresses.”
(What’s your message to the offense when you review the game tape with them and you have 30 points a game and almost 500 yards a game, but also some low red zone kicking field goals down there, some turnovers and failed exchanges? How do you balance the really good with some of the miscues?) – “Well, I think you have to keep a real perspective on what are we trying to do? Are we just trying to get a win? Or are we trying to build to something special? You either get better or you get worse in this league, and there’s plenty of areas where we see as coaches and as players where I think our vision is pretty grounded, where it’s looking for where can we get better. There’s a bunch of stuff to improve upon because as the season progresses, there’s teams that continue to get better. And there’s teams that stay the same or get worse. And at the end of the season, you want to be part of the former, not the latter. And just by staying the same or not improving, is a death sentence really over the long haul of the season. So it’s good to have some success. However, the offense definitely knows that they needed other phases of the team to come through to make sure the game was won. The first game we scored with some time remaining on the clock, and maybe if you’re operating your best self, you score with no time left. This past game, we had an opportunity to make it a two-score game, and didn’t get it done. Both games, the defense came through. And you’re trying to have each phase not be completely dependent on each other while depending on each other, if that makes sense. Listen, we have some residual scars from last season that you kind of make last season purposeful. It was the first time that a lot of guys had felt some sort of positive hype. Whether it’s correlation or causation, the league humbled them, I think, and us. I think that’s very still alive and awake in our mind. It’s so early in the season. Again, two wins in two games is whatever. Our goals are much, much bigger than that. And that takes continued growth, which will start this week, building on the last.”
(We talked last week about the aggression and certain decisions in points of the game. Down the stretch yesterday with the chance to either go for it or kick that field goal late, what went into the thought process there about maybe deciding to try for the points instead of maybe being more aggressive to try to get the first down in that situation?) – “Those were live decisions. To be quite honest, I was planning on going for it on fourth down and then we had a mishandled exchange under center, which lost two yards and that point, I didn’t think it was responsible to really go that direction. I was planning on it, but when the utmost elementary fundamentals fall apart – we have a ton of confidence in (Jason Sanders). I mean, shoot, we went to playoffs last year off of a 50-yard field goal from Jason (Sanders). So you’re playing percentages at that point and we felt confident in Jason. I think ultimately 10 times out of 10, the offense wants to take the game in control in their own hands and finish without having other units having to come on the field. It wasn’t the case yesterday and I think my decision to kick a field goal would have been adjusted had the play before not gone awry.”
(Where is your level of concern with the center-quarterback exchange – with the snap, either shotgun or under center and how do you fix that?) – “My level of concern is two-sixtieths of the game. It’s an odd thing to be concerned about because it’s executed very well on so many occasions. So it’s like everything else where you have to try to reverse-engineer. Ok, how can we go this whole game with this happening? What is going on right now, and getting down to the fundamentals and technique, and really the mindset of it. And you’re fortunate when that stuff happens to have it happen early in the season, for us to communicate and talk about to get better from, and to have it happen in a win. Those are the best-case scenarios that you’re not always as fortunate to have those lessons be given to you in wins. But I think my assumption – that is founded based upon all the people that are in this building, on this team – my assumption is that we’re seeking out and finding every piece of our game that we can improve upon and that is the non-negotiable prerequisite. So anything that happens, whether it’s a weird distribution, a missed tackle, a blocked kick – all of these things you can either say – I think our mode of our whole team is to find those, look them straight in the eye and correct them because the only way to get better, to continually improve, is if you’re identifying and finding those things. That will always be the case if you’re trying to do something worthwhile.”
(Did you go into the game with a pretty strong conviction that you were going to have a run-pass balance or was that a product of just how the game played out?) – “It’s kind of a weird feeling. I’ve been fortunate enough to be on several offenses that have had some productivity. And in that process, you learn the whole mode of playing an opponent, watching their tape, game planning for what they’re doing but also game planning for what could possibly be coming. And in that, by and large, most teams – specifically coached by Coach (Bill) Belichick – if you’ve put on tape that you can win a certain way, they’ll try to force you to win another way. So I don’t go into the game assuming. We go into the game kind of prepared if they are overplaying something, we have to have answers. So I knew it would be important, just line of scrimmage play in general because they’re so fundamentally sound in that and let’s face it, with a lot of guys that are returning from last year, they were top five in sacks and they were high up there in run defense. So you have to be on your p’s and q’s. You don’t know exactly what it is, but you can assume that with all the unbelievable football that he’s produced, that Coach Belichick and his staff would come up with something that we hadn’t seen and we’d have to be able to adjust. So I knew line of scrimmage play was going to be important, but you have to let the game kind of play out, see what the defense is doing and if they’re taking something away, something else is vulnerable. So you just kind of have to have equity in your game plan from that perspective.”
(You don’t see a lot of 31-year-old running backs do what RB Raheem Mostert did last night. What gave you confidence during the evaluation period this offseason that he still had that in him?) – “I have extensive history with Raheem. From our vantage point, and mine specifically, with opportunities that weren’t plentiful in the beginning of his career – he was cut 900 times and in the NFC Championship game in 2019, he didn’t even start when he had 220 yards and four touchdowns, and then had to deal with some injuries. But all the while, his game has progressed. He’s a unique individual that currently has either the first or second fastest ball-carrier time recorded since 2016 – 23-something (miles per hour), and he was 29 years old. To look at him through the same lens as every other back I think would be a mistake. Just watching the nuances of his game, he’s developed confidence, conviction, his vision is better, he’s more decisive. As you guys could see last night, and it was very evident at the end of the season last year, he is a hard tackle. Pound for pound he might be one of, if not the strongest person on the team. He’s just unique in that way. I try to very much acknowledge when people live outside the curve. I’d rather be the person that was like, ‘yeah, see? I knew it.’ Because you just watch what he does on daily basis and know how hungry he is and how much he wants to do what he does best, which is run the football.”
Jevon Holland – September 18, 2023
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Monday, September 18, 2023
S Jevon Holland
(What did the defense show last night? You guys did this without LB Jaelan Phillips, you guys get the turnovers, you guys get the sacks. It seemed to be the kind of performance you want, but what did the defense show?) – “Just resilience. In the season, you take tough plays, tough situations, Jaelan going down, guys get hurt and the next guy’s got to step up whether it’s somebody that’s been playing or somebody that’s coming off the practice squad. Regardless, they got to step up and take advantage of their opportunities. That’s just what we preach here is next man mentality. You got to be ready when your number is called.”
(Can you take us through that last play?) – “That was a heads up play by Mike (Gesicki). That was super smart. Through my eyes, I was playing my coverage, I saw ‘Beth’ (Justin Bethel) on the tackle and he’s holding Mike, and I see Mike try to reach for it, so I’m running. I’m thinking he is going to try to reach for it the whole time and I’ll knock the ball out. Then he tosses it back, ‘boom’ a lineman catches it, and I’m like, ‘alright, let me try to take his legs out.’ I hit him the first time, and I’m like ‘damn, this dude is heavy.’ (laughter) Then I just keep trying to tackle him, and then I see ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) there, Eli (Apple) comes and hits him. Then when I fell, I was on the guy’s back and I saw it’s like real close. I’m like, ‘there is no way he got it.’ And then they go to replay, and it’s a turnover on downs. It felt good.”
(Obviously every gameplan is different. How much was changed from Week 1 to Week 2 overall in terms of strategic from Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio compared to executing better as a group?) – “I think we really hit the details. Instead of trying to change everything, we just set back into what we were doing before and really emphasized detail. When you miss details, that’s when chaos happens. We try to just revert back to the basics and really emphasize that if we just play our technique and we rely on that when things get tough, then we’ll be fine.”
(You have a 2-0 start now. DT Christian Wilkins said that being able to be one of the top defenses and just strong on that front, how do you keep that momentum going now that you made that big drastic change from Week 1 to now Week 2, with two wins, opening up at home?) – “It wasn’t that much of a drastic change, honestly. Like I said, we were just really focused on the details. I think keeping that and progressing forward with that mindset, I feel like whatever we change, whatever we decide to implement that week, as long as we’re really tuned in on the fine techniques and how we’re supposed to execute, I think that’s the biggest opportunity for us to continue to have this momentum. It’s going to change week by week. Each team is different and it’s hard to win in the league. If we just kind of focus one day at a time on how we can improve on that day, and continue to stack those days, it will fall in our favor.”
(I know you haven’t gotten into film study yet, but a pretty dramatic contrast in style from QB Mac Jones to QB Russell Wilson. Two totally different players. what’s the challenge for this week?) – “Russell Wilson is a household name. He’s one of the best. My mom loves the Seahawks, and I grew up watching the Seahawks, and now he’s on the Broncos and I get to play him. For me, it’s cool I get to study a quarterback of that caliber. The same as studying Aaron Rodgers like I did, and Tom Brady like I did. I’m excited for the game. Each team has different challenges and I know the Broncos have a hell of a team. I’m excited to play them. I got friends on that team. I’m looking forward to it.”
(Last week on my desk I saw a sticker that was put there advertising your cookies.) – “Yes, sir. So I got cookies coming out this week for the home opener with Blueprint cookies. Fifteen percent of the proceeds are going to the Broward County Animal Care and Adoption Center. We got a whole bunch of different names. QuickDraw Coco, it’s more like a Samoa cookie. Disappearing Delight, which is like my mom’s brownie recipe that I changed into a cookie. Snickerdoodle Snowman which is gluten free and vegan. It’s a snickerdoodle cookie with buttermilk whipped cream on the top. And then Brown Sugar Cinnamon Oatmeal. I love brown sugar cinnamon oatmeal for the morning, so I just made it into a cookie. (laughter).”
(Is it the one in Ft. Lauderdale?) – “It’s Ft. Lauderdale and Plantation.”
(Are you a baker?) – “I am a baker. My own personal baker. I make tiramisu and peach cobbler, but I also cook too. I learned from ‘Beth’ (Justin Bethel). He’s a hell of a baker. He makes all types of different treats and stuff.”
(How did all of that come about, the partnership?) – “My best friend that I grew up with in Pleasanton, his mom, who is like my second mom, is best friends with the people that started Blueprint Cookies. He works there now. That’s why he moved to Florida. He was asking me if I wanted to do a deal. Of course, why wouldn’t I want to make my own cookies? When they told me I could donate to somebody, or some type of organization, I chose the animals because animals don’t have opposable thumbs, and they need help.”
(Do you have a name for your cookie brand? Is it like Jevon’s Sweets? Do you have a sweet tooth?) – “Nah, it’s a Jevon Holland Blueprint Cookies collab. But all of the cookies have a specific name like the QuickDraw Coco. Like my account is Quick Draw Jev. Go ahead and follow that. (laughter) And then the Disappearing Delight, my mom calls them disappearing brownies. That’s where that name came from. Snickerdoodle Snowman, my nickname is snowman. And then the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Oatmeal.”
(Are you going to let your teammates try them out first?) – “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. They are going to be sold on game day too, so you guys go ahead and cop that. Limited addition though. Limited addition, so get them while you can.”
Alec Ingold – September 18, 2023
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Monday, September 18, 2023
FB Alec Ingold
(Before we get into the game I actually want to address the $14,000 fine, which I assume you’re going to be appealing?) – “Yes.”
(What were you supposed to do on that play?) – “I’m not sure. I think when you have a clicker and you’re not on the field, you can see a lot and you can kind of chase ghosts. I can’t imagine that play not happening hundreds of times every single Sunday. So I’m going to appeal it. I’m pretty upset about that, but (it is the) cost of doing business. It’s that edge of setting the tone but doing your job and protecting the team. That’s a tough one to swallow. So I wasn’t too happy about that one, but we’ll go through the process and it’s not the first time stuff like that has happened. We’ll just kind of – I’ve got a great agent that will walk me through that whole process and we’ll just go from there.”
(When Head Coach Mike McDaniel puts you in motion the way he does and you kind of get full impact at full speed, is that the purest essence of fullback, I guess? Because they use you in motion a lot. Sometimes the guy has no chance.) – “I absolutely love it. I love the diversification of the motions, how it can set up so many different things. All of us are in motion pretty much all the time, so I love being a part of that. I love being able to set up Tyreek (Hill) for his stuff and vice versa. Durham (Smythe), moving in motion. You have everybody moving and I think it helps open up windows for Raheem (Mostert) in the backfield or whether we’re throwing the ball. So I really love it. I think it’s a great wrinkle in our offense. I think playing with anticipation and manipulating a defense, you use all 40 seconds of that play clock. I think that’s what we’re really going for. I think it’s a big part of our offense and I love the fact that we can do that and execute while you’re moving full speed, side to side and then stretch a team vertically as well.”
(Real quick follow up. Do you even consider yourself a fullback? Because traditionally fullbacks don’t do that.) – “I’ve loved the roles of this offense and how it’s progressed from when I showed up to what it is now. Last week I got to play a little tight end, a little fullback, a little running back, you’re split out wide. So being able to do all of that, the more you can do, I feel like it helps everybody on the team and I think that’s really what my role is. So I embrace that. I love it. It’s challenging mentally but I love that challenge, like the cerebral challenge to approach a week and have a game plan and have all these things going in. To be able to see it all come together and then put it out and execute on Sunday, that’s the game within the game and that’s what I fall in love with. That’s what kind of keeps everything moving.”
(When they install a play where your role is to go dig out a 350-pound three-technique, your reaction to that is…?) – “I love it. Yeah, like let’s do it. The more you can do. And I think those looks, people are going to study that. They’re going to have to practice against that and the more things that we can do and the more angles that we can create for our runners, I think that’s where you see creases hit and that’s where you see a guy like Raheem (Mostert) running 21.5 miles an hour. That’s the power of a run game like that.”
(Was that the official speed? 21.5?) – “I’m normally a numbers guy. I don’t know what it was. He was moving. We have a contest in the running back room every week who can be the fastest guy and I think all of them were over 21 this last game so it was pretty impressive.”
(It was 21.62.) – “There it is. (laughter)”
(That’s tough for you.) – “Oh, the average of the running back room gets brought down dramatically from my top-end speed in a game. (laughter)”
(What do you think Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s top-end speed was… did you see the way he ran off the field at halftime?) – “Yeah, I think he probably touched, I would say 17.8. But I think he would’ve hit those 18s if he didn’t look back. If he just put the head down, maybe it’s 18.4. I think he got up there. (laughter)”
(Why was the run game so effective last night? Was it play calling? Was it as simple as a hat on a hat? What happened?) – “I think it’s one-eleventh. Everybody doing their role. Everyone has to be aligned and to not get impatient with that. To know that’s the type of game that you have to go in and play. A primetime game, everyone can get real emotional. Tempers can run high and if you aren’t locked in on your keys, if you aren’t assignment-sound, if you aren’t accountable to your teammates, I think that’s where the running game can kind of slip up. And I think that we showed that if you put four quarters of assignment-sound football, I think that’s what we can do as an offense and it’s just another way to win ballgames down the stretch and I think that’s where you kind of progress throughout the season. You need those games. You need to come back after that and improve and see where we could’ve stuck onto defenders a little more. Where was the hidden yardage? Yards after contact? Where can we grow in all of those aspects and that’s kind of the entire challenge throughout a full season.”
(You have a 2-0 start. How do you guys keep that momentum going? What are you guys telling each other in the locker room as now home opener against a team who’s desperate for their first win?) – “I think when you look at the tape, we had a lot of mistakes that maybe weren’t – it didn’t end up impacting the end result but it does have to impact the process of which you are continuously trying to grow and chase those edges and continue to prep and be accountable. So we’ve got to find ways to improve. We’re going to look at that tape and you’re not going to accept – ‘Coach E’ (Eric Studesville) says this all the time – you can’t accept in victory what you wouldn’t in defeat. So he’s big on that. Top-down, I think coaches, players, everybody, support staff; you’ve got to look at this like, ‘man, we’ve got to expect to improve week-in and week-out and the results will be what the results will be.’ The scoreboard will be what the scoreboard is, but if we’re getting better, then we’ve got a chance.”
(Is this 2-0 the same as last year’s 2-0? This one – no T Terron Armstead, no CB Jalen Ramsey, two tough road games, a division win. Is it the same as last year? Is it different for any reason?) – “I think the biggest change would be just the process in which we approach every single week. I think you’ve got a lot of guys who have enough confidence to be self-critical with your assignments so that you aren’t letting things slip like we just said. So to be able to be that accountable for your teammates, I think that’s where everyone kind of wears that ownership on their sleeve and you go to work on a Wednesday ready to roll, throw those pads on and get to work and continue to improve.”
(What about the statement that you may have made on offense? Winning Week 1 with 466 by QB Tua Tagovailoa, winning the way you did last night in a totally different way. What kind of statement do you think that makes?) – “I think that just kind of is a sneak peek in what the rest of the season is going to be. We’re going to have to win a lot of games a lot of different ways – good weather, bad weather, road games, home games, whatever that is. We have to have the guys in the room to have a chance at the end of the game to have the talent, the closers across the field – offense, defense, special teams – to make those plays in the key moments to win games. So if we know that we’re going to be in the games that we want to be in, we’re going to have to win a lot of different ways and I think that’s where the confidence really has to be put in that preparation, that process.”
Robert Hunt – September 18, 2023
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Monday, September 18, 2023
OL Robert Hunt
(RB Raheem Mostert’s touchdown run last night, you got a couple bodies in that play. You want to break that down for us?) – “Yeah, so we were running a combo. It was actually a pretty good look. It was a look that we probably had seen during the week. We executed it a couple of times during the week, and it came into the game and we executed it pretty well.”
(If I would’ve told you as offensive linemen that you would’ve given up one sack to begin the season in the first two games without T Terron Armstead, and RB Raheem Mostert leads the league with three rushing touchdowns, doing all that without Armstead, what would your response have been?) – “That’s the standard. That’s what I expect. That’s what we’ve been working for since April. And it’s only two games in, but we see it, people see it. This is something that we’ve been working on and it is starting to pay dividends and starting to look the right way.”
(It’s a lot of the same personnel as last year. Are you guys just playing better? What’s the difference?) – “We’re just flying around, man. It’s the second year in the system, and I think a lot of guys are confident. And that’s what it’s about in this league. You have to have some confidence. Like I said, it’s a standard in our room. We practice fast. We play fast. And that’s how we do it. We just run. That’s our motto. We’re just trying to run off the ball and do what we do. I think we’ve been doing a really good job with that. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s starting to go the right way.”
(You guys say, ‘Hey it’s only two wins,’ but these are two impressive road wins. And now you open at home against a team who’s probably desperate to get that first win. How do you keep this momentum going and finally being able to be in front of your home fans?) – “Do what we do. We’ll come check out the film and then we’re going to break it down and do what we do. We are going to keep our head down and keep working. I don’t think anybody is satisfied with two wins because we all have bigger goals of what we want to do. Yeah, it’ll be fun. It’ll be fun Sunday to come home in front of our fans. It feels like we haven’t played here in a while, so we’re excited to come put on a show for our fans.”
(You had 30 running plays and 30 pass attempts last night, which is probably music to your ears. How much of that was the game plan? How much of that was responding to what New England was doing and concentrating on WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle?) – “Gotta be honest with you. So personally, for me, I didn’t realize what it was. I just get a play and I try to execute it. So whatever is called, that’s pretty much what I do. If it’s a run, I get excited. If it’s a pass, let’s go. I get excited to buckle up to protect Tua (Tagovailoa). So for me personally, I don’t know how much it was on game plan. We want to run the ball, of course. And it worked out well.”
(You’ve played for a handful of offensive line coaches here. What does OL Coach Butch Barry emphasize maybe more than the others? Or do a little bit differently than the others?) – “Butch his own his own character, his own guy. Butch knows what he wants. He has a standard, just like we have a standard, and we set the standard and he keeps us on the standard. I mean we set the standard and he doesn’t let us go backwards from the standard. So he does a really good job of that. He does a good job at what he does. Butch is a good coach.”
(What’s your reaction when FB Alex Ingold comes across the formation in motion and digs out a 315-pound defensive tackle?) – “I love it man. I love that. We just watched a little bit of it. When I’m playing, I’m usually trying to – I think I hit pretty hard and play the game pretty hard, but watching him, he’s got a little something. He’s got it. Whatever it is. Guys know. If you look at a game, you look at certain guys and guys have a certain little way they play. He’s got that way of playing. So I respect that and I like watching it on film.”
(On FB Alex Ingold’s fine last week.) – “That’s nuts, right? Come on man. We’re playing football out here. And he’s going against bigger guys. How the hell did he get a fine? It’s crazy.”
(When you see RB Raheem Mostert at age 31 now, putting up the numbers that he is, what does that say?) – “That he is going about his business the right way. He’s doing it, man. He’s fast as hell. He’s strong. He plays the game the right way and last night when I saw him in the open field, that’s a beautiful sight to me. So keep doing what I’m doing and what we’re doing, the o-line is doing, and hopefully we can keep opening holes for him and let him do what he do. He runs the ball pretty hard and he’s fast, so I enjoy blocking for him.”
(How good is it to know you can beat a team running the ball or passing the ball?) – “I think that was always the goal, to try to run the football and be effective with it. That’s always been a goal and that’s never going to change, so if we got a beat a team by running the football, beautiful. I mean you don’t have to protect all that stuff. Those boys are getting paid all that money nowadays to rush the passer, so if you can run the football, it helps a lot.”
(How much have you and OL Isaiah Wynn talked about the transition to guard? You obviously have experience at tackle and guard. His was a pretty long gap between guard at Georgia to now.) – “Yeah, we talked about a little bit. I’m actually impressed with some of the things he does at guard coming from tackle. You can kind of see that it is like a tackle thing, but it’s impressive man. Isaiah is a really good player. I like what he does. We walk through stuff and we talk about certain parts of his game, we talk about certain parts of my game and if we can just keep working, hopefully we can keep that thing rolling on the inside.”
(What does a tackle thing?) – “A tackle thing? For him, I’d just say the way he sets at guard looks like a tackle and it’s pretty efficient. He knows he’s good with his feet. He gets on them and he has awareness for them. I think him transforming or going into guard kind of helps him in a situation to move into space. Now the big boys, that’s always for me personally, too. I had to learn the big boys are a little tougher than the smaller ones outside. But he’s picking up on that really quick, so he’s going to be good at it.”
(Do you have to be heavier to anchor at guard?) – “I don’t think heavier. Those guys are heavy in the middle. Big (Davon) Godchaux? That’s a big boy. You have to be prepared man. Like me playing tackle, speaking for myself, playing tackle my rookie year, those guys, I think I’m a fairly strong guy. So I used to sit out there and not know what I’m doing, and I just wait for him to go, like to come down the middle and just sit on it. If I do that at guard, they’ll take me to the quarterback. So it’s a different ballgame in there. But also you got to be fast. You got to move a little bit out here, so it’s the best of both worlds man.”
Christian Wilkins – September 18, 2023
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Monday, September 18, 2023
DT Christian Wilkins
(The run defense was very good last night. From Week 1 to Week 2, how much was it a strategic schematic adjustment from Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio and Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark compared to you guys just playing better?) – “I think it was a little bit of both. Zach (Sieler) kind of hit us – the d-line – with some real (expletive) before the game. I’m not going to say what he said but the message was received. We just kind of had that on our minds and we knew we had to play better. Week 1 wasn’t us as far as the run defense and our standard and what it has been around here. So it was good to definitely improve against a really good running team. Everybody knows the Patriots like to run the ball. Regardless of what’s going on, they’re a physical team. So we were able to do some solid things there which was good and it was just good to see the defense improve overall.”
(Is DT Zach Sieler a guy that talks often?) – “No, not too much. He keeps about his business but when he does talk, you listen. And like I said, message received.”
(How did it feel to go up there and get a win in that building? I know you are from the area.) – “Yeah, very nice for multiple reasons. Obviously like you said, that’s a home game for me every time I get to go up there and play in front of the home crowd. I have friends and family, people from high school and whatever. You just see a lot of people in the crowd that you know and that know you, so that’s always cool. Obviously it’s just big getting a division win on the road at night on Sunday Night Football. It makes it more fun and a little more special.”
(Two impressive wins on the road. Now to finally be back home, what does it mean to be back in front of the fan base and guys in their routine?) – “Definitely. I’m excited for that, to come back home, be in front of the fans, put on a show and do what we do at Hard Rock Stadium. That will be exciting. I’m encouraging and hoping that our fans come out and support and get loud and get crazy and make this place tough for opponents to want to come play in. Obviously there’s heat and other elements and things like that, but we want this place to raucous every time we come home and play. I think we work our butts off and we deserve that, so I definitely want to challenge the fans from that standpoint. It just makes it a lot more fun.”
(I’ve asked you several times about re-tracing screens and going down the field. You do it in conditioning and training camp. Last night, LB Bradley Chubb had a re-trace where he had a forced fumble. I just wanted to hear your perspective on that.) – “That was big. That is definitely something we emphasize and talk about a lot just getting off the stack, because oftentimes it’s the guys you don’t see. That was a perfect example of getting off the stack. Stack monsters hunting. He was just trying to make a play downfield and that was great to see. I had a perfect view on it. I was like Bradley, please get there. I didn’t know who it was. I saw a white color flash and was like, please get there. He was able to make a great play on the ball and (it was) clinic tape of a hammer down on the ball from the blindside.”
(Does this 2-0 feel like last year’s or is this one different for any reason?) – “I don’t know exactly how to answer that but it is just nice to be 2-0, especially getting two tough road wins. That’s obviously very important. Two in the conference and one in the division is huge. We definitely just want to keep building off of what we’ve done and get ready for a good Week 3 coming up.”
(From a stylistic standpoint, I couldn’t think of three different quarterbacks to start the season with now with Russell Wilson coming this weekend. What kind of challenge does he pose?) – “His resume speaks for itself and the things he’s been able to do in this league. He presents a lot of challenges, just being able to obviously be great in the pocket, run when he needs to, a great leader and things like that. I’ve gotten to play him once in my career and he was able to do some pretty impressive things throwing the ball, running, launching it down the field and different things like that. I’m excited for the challenge that he brings and looking forward to it always.”
(Did you see how their game ended yesterday?) – “I did not. I heard something was crazy. I was watching Get Up a little bit this morning but I turned it off before they got to that game.”
(It was a Hail Mary on the last play. They got it and then missed the two-point conversion on a blown defensive pass interference so they’re probably pissed off.) – “Oh, wow. Nah, I did not see that. But I’m sure they’ll definitely be motivated coming on the road and wanting to get their first win, so we’ll have to be ready.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa calls Head Coach Mike McDaniel ‘beast.’ I was wondering if anybody else has any nicknames for him or do you call him anything besides…) – “I mean I wouldn’t go that far. (laughter) No, I don’t know what other guys have for him. I didn’t know Tua really called him ‘beast’ or anything like that, but that’s pretty funny. That’s cool. That’s part of Tua’s humor. Throwing kind of against the grain there. (laughter)”
(What did you make of the performance off the edge last night with all of the pressures, tackles for loss and sacks for the guys outside?) – “It was good definitely just for guys to be able to be active, make those plays and get that kind of pressure. It’s important because when you get that edge pressure, it makes it even that much more important for the middle guys to get that push and things like that. Just working together. I feel like we did a pretty good job of that last night. The interior guys were rushing and we were able to get some good pressures up the middle and off the edge. When we’re working like that, that’s important just to build that confidence and build that camaraderie as a defense and as rushers.”
(On wanting sacks and fumbles) – “Yeah, you definitely want to be known as an intimidating front. We’ve got the guys to do it. But it all comes down to a weekly focus and a weekly preparation, locking in on the game plan and really trusting one another. Fortunately for us, like I’ve said before, we’ve got a lot of guys who have played around each other for awhile. So it’s kind of knowing each other’s styles and just giving a guy a look and knowing what that means. That kind of helps so I just hope we can continue to build off that.”
(Have you seen that kind of pass rush from LB Andrew Van Ginkel before?) – “’Gink’ is my guy. Me and ‘Gink’ came in together as rookies back in the day. Me and ‘Gink’ have always been cool. I was happy to see him have a night like that and do some good things because we know what ‘Gink’ can do. We all mean it when we say he’s got like a horseshoe up his butt or something. (laughter) He always finds a way to be around the ball. And we joke too and say that ‘Gink’ is really one of the best football players on the team, just his ability to be versatile, smart and super reliable. That was good that he got a little shine and had a night like that last night.”
(Is that intelligence?) – “He’s always in the right spots at the right time and just knows ball. He’s really good at ball. ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) is just such a well-rounded athlete. Any sport he picks up, he’s really good at. Like I said, I was just happy to see ‘Gink’ have a night like that and happy to see him do his thing a little bit.”
(Can he dunk?) – “Yeah. He’s an athlete, I’m telling you. He’s the most unassuming athlete in the world there is. Don’t let the blonde hair and the nice guy demeanor fool you. ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) has some dawg in him.”
Braxton Berrios – September 17, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Postgame – New England
WR Braxton Berrios (Transcribed by New England)
(On the reaction of the offense to what the Patriots defense showed)
“We have to learn some things on the fly. You know things when the picture changes, pre-snap and post-snap, and we have to stick to our rules, and really just execute. It’s going to be different, so we have to figure it out as we go as well.”
(On the offensive adjustments)
“You have to play the game and see what is given to you and play that. I think this offense did an incredible job of doing that. We put together some really, really good drives, long ones, and again it was a chess match.”
